Department for Transport

East Coast Railway Line

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect on the route operator's (a) revenue and (b) service level provision of the decision to delay improvement work on the East Coast mainline between Bawtry and Edinburgh.

Andrew Jones: Train operator revenues are continually assessed under the terms of their Agreements with the Secretary of State. The infrastructure works between Bawtry and Edinburgh have not been delayed. The power upgrades in that area are planned for delivery in CP6 (Control Period 6 commences April 2019).

East Coast Railway Line

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect on the incumbent East Coast route operator's (a) revenue and (b) service level provision in the event that additional open access services are implemented on the East Coast mainline from 2021.

Andrew Jones: Train operator revenues and service level provisions are continually assessed under the terms of their Agreements with the Secretary of State. The Government is fully committed to putting the interests of passengers at the heart of the railway and believe strongly in the importance of competition, as demonstrated by the highly competitive franchising system. The Government supports open access in appropriate circumstances where it complements the competitive franchising system to develop new markets and where it provides innovation and benefits for passengers. However, it is important that the interests of taxpayers are fully protected.

Bus Services

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when his Department plans to publish its response to its consultation, Bus Services Act 2017: accessible information.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Bus Services Act in 2017, when he plans to bring forward legislative proposals for audio visual next stop and final destination announcements for buses.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Government understands the importance of accessible on-board information in helping bus passengers to travel with confidence, and in Summer 2018 published a public consultation on proposals to require its provision on local bus services throughout Great Britain. We continue to analyse responses to the consultation and expect to announce our next steps regarding the making of Regulations and publication of guidance later in the year.

Aviation

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people working on the airport capacity programme are (a) contingent labour, (b) supplier resource and (c) civil servants.

Jesse Norman: The Heathrow Expansion Programme (formerly known as the Airport Capacity Programme) has the equivalent of 55.3 full time civil servants currently working on the programme. The programme does not currently employ any contingent labour. The civil servant team is supported by a number of suppliers that support the Government on a range of legal, commercial and financial matters.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the letter of 20 March 2019 from the Prime Minister to Midland Connect, whether the potential changes to phase 2b of the High Speed Two route will affect the (a) eastern leg and (b) western leg of that route.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the letter of 20 March 2019 from the Prime Minister to Midland Connect, what are the potential changes to phase 2b of the High Speed Two route.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the letter of 20 March 2019 from the Prime Minister to Midland Connect, whether the potential changes to phase b of the High Speed Two route will affect (a) residents, (b) property, (c) business and (d) transport links in Hemsworth constituency.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the letter of 20 March 2019 from the Prime Minister to Midland Connect, whether details of the potential changes to phase 2b of the High Speed Two route are publicly available.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: As part of the process to prepare the legislation for Phase 2b we intend to consult on aspects of the HS2 Phase 2b plans this year to inform our plans. This work is ongoing and as changes are ready, they will be published in consultations where appropriate, during the course of the year.

Railway Stations: Construction

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his policy is on proposals for new stations within the greenbelt.

Andrew Jones: We would expect any proposal for a new station to follow the same process as any other development in the greenbelt. This would include call-in to the Secretary of State for Planning for a decision on whether to grant or refuse the application.

Railway Stations: Construction

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his policy is on dealing with proposals from transport authorities for new stations which do not fall within that authority's area.

Andrew Jones: The Department will become involved with proposals for new stations if Government funding is sought to support the new station or if franchised train services are planned to call. By that stage we would expect to see evidence of a strong business case, value for money and support from relevant stakeholders, including all affected local authorities.

Department for Transport: Public Expenditure

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reason his Department has not published the transparency data entitled Dft: Spending over £25,000 for the months of (a) October, (b) November and (c) December 2018; and when he plans to publish those documents.

Jesse Norman: The transparency data for financial transactions over £25,000 for October, November and December 2018 was published on 28 March 2019 on GOV.UK

Bus Services

Mr Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the document entitled Bus Services Act 2017: Bus Open Data Consultation Response: Moving Britain Ahead, published by his Department in January 2019, when he plans to publish the steps his Department will take in response to the responses received to that consultation.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Government’s consultation response on bus open data explains that the Government will bring forward a statutory instrument later this year which will require bus operators in England to publish various forms of data. The key requirements are for data on routes and timetables to be published from January 2020; real time information and simple fares by January 2021; and complex fares by January 2023. The difference between simple and complex fares is explained in section 4 of the consultation response. To support this, the response also explains that the Government is developing a Bus Open Data Digital Service, which will allow app developers to access all of the information in a machine-readable format. We are currently developing the digital service and expect it to be available for use by all bus operators towards the end of the summer.

Railways: Easington

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will take steps to improve regional rail connectivity in the Easington constituency through funding the expansion of the Tyne and Wear Metro into East Durham.

Andrew Jones: I am aware that Nexus have identified several possible extensions to the Tyne and Wear Metro system. It would be up to Nexus to identify which of these would be the most effective and to develop a business case and seek funding accordingly. The Government is supporting the Tyne and Wear Metro system with £317 million for its reinvigoration and renewal programme and £229 million towards its running costs since 2010. Furthermore, in the 2017 Autumn Budget, the Chancellor announced a £337m direct grant to deliver a new fleet of trains for the Tyne and Wear Metro. Through the New Stations Fund the Department is also supporting the construction of a new station at Horden Peterlee on the Durham Coast Line in the Hon. Member’s constituency.

Railway Stations: Disability

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether priority funding has been awarded under the Access for All scheme to (a) Rock Ferry and (b)  Birkenhead Park stations.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: We have received more than 300 nominations for the next tranche of Access for All funding, totaling £300m. 10 of those nominations are from the Merseytravel area. The assessment of these nominations is now complete and we will be announcing the successful stations early in April.

Railways: Manufacturing Industries

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the independent report commissioned by Network Rail to investigate the possible locations for a new sleeper factory to replace its facility at Washwood Heath, Birmingham.

Andrew Jones: The proposal for a facility in Bescot is being developed by Network Rail to produce the sleepers necessary for them to maintain, renew, and enhance our rail network. Network Rail has received a Freedom of Information request to publish the independent report on possible locations for a new sleeper factory. It intends to publish this information once it has identified and removed any commercially sensitive material. Network Rail has offered to show local Members of Parliament a similar facility in Germany to explain how any local impacts will be addressed.

Railways: Bescot

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the amount spent by Network Rail to date on its proposal for a new sleeper factory at Bescot Rail Yard to replace the facility at Washwood Heath, Birmingham.

Andrew Jones: A proposal for a new facility in Bescot is being developed by Network Rail to produce the sleepers necessary for them to maintain, renew, and enhance our rail network. Network Rail is preparing its response to a Freedom of Information request for information on the cost of the proposed facility, and intends to provide this information shortly.

Railways: Disability

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representation his Department has received from representatives from the Department's Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee on the effect of Driver Only Operation trains on disabled passengers in the last three years; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones: The Department has regular and ongoing discussions with DPTAC on a wide range of issues, including staffing on rail, in their role as the Government’s statutory advisor on issues relating to transport provision for disabled people.

Railways: Disability

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department or officials have had with the Office of Rail and Road on his Department's consultation on Disabled People's Protection Policy: guidance changes for train and station operators, which closed on 15 February 2019.

Andrew Jones: Both the Department and the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee, the statutory independent expert committee which advises Government on the transport needs of disabled people, provided formal responses to the Office of Rail and Road’s consultation on changes to the Disabled People’s Protection Policy guidance. The Department was also a member of the Office of Rail and Road’s Assisted Travel Advisory Group which met prior to the consultation launch, and attended an industry consultation event they ran in November.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Consultants

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many consultants his Department has hired since 2016; and what the cost of that hiring was to the public purse.

Kelly Tolhurst: Holding answer received on 25 March 2019



The Department does not hold information on the number of consultants hired in any one year as this work is often commissioned as part of an outcomes based contract to ensure value for money. The amount spent on consultants each year since 2016 is: 2016-17 - £63.0 million of which £41.4 million was related to Site Licence Companies2017-18 - £50.4 million of which £37.3 million was related to Site Licence Companies. Site Licence Companies manage and operate the nuclear facilities at the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) sites.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Public Expenditure

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to row four of the table on page 35 of the BEIS 2018-19 Main Estimate Memorandum, if he will publish the other programmes with their respective budgets referred to in that table.

Kelly Tolhurst: Holding answer received on 25 March 2019



The breakdown of expenditure included in Other Programmes under Deliver an ambitious industrial strategy Resource DEL is as shown in the following table: -  £mOrdnance Survey - Public Sector Mapping Agreement6.0Office for Product Safety & Standards3.8Design council2.5Portfolio Management2.1Launch Investments0.5International Science and Innovation Policy0.2Homes England: Innovation0.1Centrally held15.1Intellectual Property Office dividend-1.0Total (Other programmes)29.4*Table does not add up due to rounding

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Public Expenditure

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to row three of the table on page 35 of the BEIS 2018-19 Main Estimate Memorandum, if he will publish a detailed breakdown under the heading Business and Enterprise.

Kelly Tolhurst: Holding answer received on 25 March 2019



The breakdown of expenditure included in Business and Enterprise Resource DEL is as shown in the following table: -  £mCarbon Price Floor Compensation60.0EU ETS compensation28.0Productivity Council5.0Defence Solution Centre3.0Sponsorship1.7Cornwall Grant1.2Economic Intelligence And Analysis1.1Building Information Management1.0Advanced Manufacturing: Research0.4Regional Support Programme0.3Office for Life Sciences: Database and Web Portal0.1Total (Business and Enterprise)101.6**Table does not add up due to rounding

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: British Shipbuilders

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to row five of the table on page 35 of the BEIS 2018-19 Main Estimate Memorandum, what the spending under British Shipbuilders relates to.

Kelly Tolhurst: Holding answer received on 25 March 2019



The Department has responsibility for liabilities arising from the former publicly-owned company British Shipbuilders. The liabilities largely relate to damages due to former workers who were exposed to asbestos over a period until the late 1980s.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Public Expenditure

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to row 11 of the table on page 35 of the BEIS 2018-19 Main Estimate Memorandum, if he will publish a breakdown of spending under the heading Market Frameworks.

Kelly Tolhurst: Holding answer received on 25 March 2019



The breakdown of expenditure included under Market Frameworks Resource DEL is as shown in the following table: -  £mCitizens Advice35.3Chartered Trading Standards Institute13.4National Minimum Wage (NMW) Enforcement12.2NMW & NLW (National Living Wage) enforcement and awareness raising campaigns9.8NMW Enforcement complex cases4.3New Labour Market Enforcement Agency1.4Small Business Commissioner1.4Convention of Scottish Local Authorities1.2Office for Product Safety and Standards: Product Regulations1.1EU Expertise: General Costs0.9Labour Market Emerging Priorities0.6Departmental Programme Translation Work0.5Paternity Adoption and Shared Parental Pay0.5European Consumer Centre0.4National Minimum Wage0.4ADR (alternative dispute resolution) Directive0.3Shared Parental Leave Comms0.3College For Europe0.2Consumer Advocacy for Energy, Post and cross-sector0.2eIDAS Implementation0.1Total (Market Frameworks)84.3**Table does not add up due to rounding

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Public Expenditure

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to row 12 of the table on page 40 of the BEIS 2018-19 Main Estimate Memorandum, if he will publish a breakdown of spending under the heading Science and Society.

Kelly Tolhurst: The breakdown of expenditure included in Science and Society Capital DEL is as shown in the below table The total of £91.5m is provided to the Royal Society and UKRI to fund post-doctoral, professorship, early career fellowships, Science Technology Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) Inspiration and Inspiring Science programmes.  £mRoyal Society64.0Science & Society: Science and Learning15.6Royal Society - Global Challenges Research Fund9.7Science & Society: Science and Careers2.3Total (Science and Society)91.5**Table does not add up due to rounding

Research: Finance

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will support a targeted capacity building approach to his Department’s funding of research and development.

Chris Skidmore: As part of the Government’s commitment to increase overall investment in R&D to 2.4% of GDP by 2027, we are supporting capacity building in a number of ways. For example, we are building research talent, increasing investment in early career researchers through a £900 million Future Leaders Fellowship programme. In addition, we are boosting capacity in artificial intelligence through new AI Masters and AI Centres for Doctoral Training, delivering 1,000 additional PhDs in AI and Turing AI Fellows. We are also boosting capacity in specific places across the UK, building on R&D strengths through our Strength in Places Fund. Twenty-four ambitious projects from pharmaceuticals to aerospace, and transport to the creative economy, are to receive early-stage funding to develop full-stage bids that could lead to significant economic growth in places across the country. For example, Artemis Technologies is leading a bid to build a facility in Belfast Harbour that will focus on the decarbonisation of maritime transportation.

Energy: Yorkshire and the Humber

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the article entitled From power stations to solar panels, the future is local, by the Minister of State for Energy and Clean Growth on 8 January 2019, what steps he is taking to assist communities in Yorkshire transition to smarter energy systems.

Claire Perry: The Government is facilitating the transition to a smarter energy system in Great Britain. Smart meters are a critical building block for an accessible smart energy system and there are now 12.8m smart and advanced meters operating across homes and businesses in Great Britain. The Smart Systems and Flexibility Plan outlined 29 actions that Government, Ofgem and industry will take to enable the transition to a smarter and more flexible system. These actions include removing barriers to smart technologies such as electricity storage, enabling smart homes and businesses so that consumers have greater control over their energy use, and improving the access of new technologies and business models to energy markets. Government has committed to invest up to £70m in funding for smart energy innovation. In October 2018, Government and Ofgem published an update to the Smart Systems and Flexibility Plan which set out that over half of these actions had been implemented. LEP energy strategies, funded by BEIS, have started to develop an understanding of local opportunity for local and community ownership and involvement in future energy systems. BEIS have also funded a Local Energy hub for the North East, Yorkshire and Humber which will bring capacity to help develop some local projects at scale. Over £5.9bn has been spent through the Feed-in tariff scheme to date, supporting the growth of small-scale low-carbon electricity generation. This has helped support over 830,000 installations, of which, according to Ofgem statistics, 9.85% (over 82,000 installations) are in Yorkshire and the Humber. The Government has recently concluded a consultation on a Smart Export Guarantee, to ensure that small-scale low-carbon generators do not export their electricity to the grid for free.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Staff

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many people working on the Local Land Charges Programme are (a) contingent labour, (b) supplier resource and (c) civil servants.

Kelly Tolhurst: As of 26th March, the Programme has the following full-time equivalents: Contingent Labour – 2Supplier Resource – 59Civil Servants - 66.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Public Expenditure

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reason his Department has not published the transparency data entitled BEIS: Spending over £25,000 since 8 February 2018; and when they plan to next update that data.

Kelly Tolhurst: In February 2018 the Department identified that its recently published datasets contained data that could be commercially sensitive. The Department takes the protection and handling of its data very seriously. Extensive process re-engineering work was therefore undertaken to minimise the risk of this happening again. We are committed to re-commencing publication of these datasets by Easter 2019.

Pay

Hugh Gaffney: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all workers on trial periods are paid.

Kelly Tolhurst: National Minimum Wage (NMW) legislation proscribes unpaid work trials that are excessive and not part of a legitimate recruitment process.This Government is committed to cracking down on employers who fail to pay the National Minimum or Living Wage. In the last 3 years we have almost doubled HMRC’s budget to enforce the NMW from £13.2 million to a record £26.3 million. In the 2017/18 financial year, HMRC identified a record £15.6 million in arrears for over 200,00 workers.In December 2018, the Government published new work trials guidance that clarifies the rights of workers and the responsibilities of employers.Anyone who is concerned about an unpaid work trial can seek advice from ACAS which offers tailored advice and refers cases to HMRC, which considers every worker complaint received.

Job Creation: Romford

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps he has taken to help businesses create more highly skilled jobs in Romford.

Kelly Tolhurst: Since its launch in 2012, the Start-Up Loans programme, part of the British Business Bank, has delivered more than 59,000 loans, totalling over £450m. One hundred and seventeen Start-Up Loans have been provided to the Romford constituency with a total value of £879,250. Businesses will also be helped with the Government’s Industrial Strategy, which is our long-term plan to boost productivity by backing businesses to create high-quality, well paid jobs throughout the United Kingdom, with investment in skills, industries and infrastructure. We are working with the London Local Enterprise Partnership to develop its Local Industrial Strategy, as part of our aim to create prosperous communities across the country. The Local Industrial Strategy will be long-term, based on clear evidence and aligned to the national Industrial Strategy, identifying local strengths and challenges, future opportunities and the action needed to boost productivity, earning power and competitiveness.

Research Fund for Coal and Steel

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans the Government has to help ensure that assets returned to the UK from the Research Fund for Coal and Steel when the UK leaves the EU are used to benefit of the steel industry.

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with (a) Cabinet colleagues and (b) the EU on the allocation of Research Fund for Coal and Steel assets after the UK leaves the EU.

Claire Perry: The Government will decide on expenditure in the next Spending Review after EU Exit. Science and innovation have been made a priority by the UK Government and is at the heart of the Department’s Industrial Strategy, in recognition of the strong economic benefits of public investment in science and innovation and its capacity to leverage private investment. The Government is continuing to work with the steel sector, trade unions and Devolved Administrations to develop a long-term viable solution for the UK steel industry.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Public Expenditure

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to row 25 of the table on page 39 of his Department's publication, 2018-19 Main Estimate Memorandum, if he will publish a description of spending under the heading Heat.

Kelly Tolhurst: Holding answer received on 01 April 2019



The spending under the heading of ‘Heat’ relates to the FY 2018-19 capital budget (£137.5 million) for the Heat Network Investment Project (HNIP). This scheme will provide £320 million of capital funding (across the life of the programme) to gap fund heat network projects in England and Wales. The scheme is open to the public, private and third sectors. Following confirmation by HMT in October 2018, the FY 2018-19 budget was reprofiled. Details of the scheme are available on gov.uk, the HNIP page is at hnip-scheme-overview.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Public Expenditure

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to row 12 of the table on page 39 of his Department's publication 2018-19 Main Estimate Memorandum, if he will publish a description of spending under the heading International Climate Finance.

Kelly Tolhurst: Holding answer received on 01 April 2019



BEIS annual accounts https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/beis-annual-report-and-accounts-2017-to-2018 , include a section on the department’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) expenditure including International Climate Finance spend. In addition, BEIS International Climate Finance spend forms part of the Government’s annual ODA statistics at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-on-international-development-final-uk-aid-spend-2017 . and is elaborated in reporting to both the EU and United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: http://cdr.eionet.europa.eu/gb/eu/mmr/art16_finance/envw6tyfq/Final_2018_UK_MMR_climate_finance_report.xlsx/manage_document . BEIS individual programme documents such as business cases are published on the Development Tracker website at https://devtracker.dfid.gov.uk/department/BEIS .

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Public Expenditure

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to row 13 of the table on page 36 of his Department's publication, 2018-19 Main Estimate Memorandum, if he will publish a description of spending under the heading British Energy Liabilities.

Kelly Tolhurst: Holding answer received on 01 April 2019



As a result of the restructuring of British Energy (BE) in January 2005, the Government assists BE (now EDF Energy Nuclear Generation Limited) in meeting its contractual historic fuel liabilities. It is forecast that payments relating to this liability will be made up until 2029, as set out in the waste processing contracts agreed between BE, British Nuclear Fuels Limited and the Department.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Public Expenditure

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to row 12 of the table on page 35 of his Department's 2018-19 Main Estimate Memorandum, if he will publish a breakdown of spending under the heading Low Pay Commission.

Kelly Tolhurst: Holding answer received on 01 April 2019



The breakdown of expenditure of spending under the heading Low Pay Commission is as shown in the following table:  £mStaff Costs0.5Purchase of Goods and Services0.3Total (Low Pay Commission)0.8

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Public Expenditure

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to rows 25,26 and 27 of the table on page 36 of the his Department's 2018-19 Main Estimate Memorandum, if he will publish a breakdown of spending under the heading Capability: Core and Agency Admin, Centrally held/unallocated and Other Programmes.

Kelly Tolhurst: Holding answer received on 01 April 2019



The breakdown of expenditure included in Capability Resource DEL is as shown in the following table:  £mWages and salaries186.9Purchase of goods and services106.7Rentals23.7Depreciation and Amortisation18.1Business Rates15.0Transfers into Committee on Climate Change(1.3)Sales of goods & services/fees & charges income(32.4)Total Core and Agency Admin316.7Centrally held/unallocated Programme budget including Invest to Save151.4Total Centrally held/unallocated151.4Energy Resilience10.3Estates4.3Legal2.4Finance2.2Compensations Payments Programme1.5Energy Statistics Research & Analysis0.9Communications0.9Staff Exit Provision0.8Departmental Security0.5Assurance Reviews and PPM Capability0.4Construction: Statistics and Other Sponsorship Activities0.2Income from Other Government Departments(19.2)Total Other Programmes5.2

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Public Expenditure

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to row 8 of the table on page 37 of his Department's 2018-19 Main Estimate Memorandum, if he will publish a breakdown of spending under the heading Government as a Shareholder: Other Programmes.

Kelly Tolhurst: The breakdown of spending under the heading Government as a Shareholder: Other Programmes is as shown in the following table: -  £mCompanies House: Administration of the Late Filing Penalties Regime4.9Business Environment: Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)0.1British Business Bank: Enable Funding Interest Income (Loans to SME’s)(2.2)Companies House: Annual Dividend Receivable(4.0)Total Other Programmes(1.2)

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Public Expenditure

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to row 16 of the table on page 37 of his Department's 2018-19 Main Estimate Memorandum, if he will publish a breakdown of spending under the heading Financial Reporting Council Admin.

Kelly Tolhurst: There was no admin spend required against Part II, sub-head K for the Financial Reporting Council in the BEIS 2018/19 Main Estimate. As it was identified the budget was not actually required it was removed at the Supplementary Estimate.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Public Expenditure

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to row 15 of the table on page 37 of his Department's 2018-19 Main Estimate Memorandum, if he will publish a breakdown of spending under the heading Competition Service Programme.

Kelly Tolhurst: The breakdown of expenditure of spending under the heading Competition Service Programme is as shown in the following table:  £mStaff Costs1.5Purchase of Goods and Services1.0Accommodation1.3Depreciation/Amortisation0.2Total (Competition Service Programme)4.0

Energy: West Midlands

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has made an estimate of the overall amount of energy consumed in the West Midlands Metropolitan Area.

Claire Perry: In 2017 10,700 GWh of electricity was consumed in the West Midlands Metropolitan area. This excludes electricity which was generated and used on site, the amount of which is not known as it is not metered. Between June 2017 and June 2018 22,700 GWh of gas was consumed. These are the most recent periods for which information is held. Source for electricity consumption: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/regional-and-local-authority-electricity-consumption-statistics Source for gas consumption: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/gas-sales-and-numbers-of-customers-by-region-and-local-authority The sources give consumption at the local authority level, where consumption in the 7 local authorities in the West Midlands Metropolitan area were aggregated to provide this answer. These local authorities are Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton.

Business: Fire Prevention

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to Written Statement of 20 June 2018, on Business Impact Target, HCWS776, whether exclusion from the business impact target as set out in that statement applies to the (a) conduct of fire risk assessment and fire safety training across different housing types and business types, and (b) provision of appropriate fire-fighting equipment, fire safety signs, emergency lighting and fire alarm systems across different housing types and business types.

Kelly Tolhurst: As set out in the Written Statement of 20 June 2018, regulatory provisions, including relevant building regulations, are excluded are excluded from the Business Impact Target if certified by departments or regulators as relating to the safety of tenants, residents and occupants in buildings that stem from, or relate to, Government’s response to the Grenfell tragedy, reviews, inquiries or working groups.

Building Regulations

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Written Statement of 20 June 2018 on Business Impact Target, HCWS776, whether exclusion from the business impact target as set out in that Statement applies to all elements of the Building Regulations; and if he will make a statement.

Kelly Tolhurst: As set out in the Written Statement of 20 June 2018, regulatory provisions, including relevant building regulations, are excluded are excluded from the Business Impact Target if certified by departments or regulators as relating to the safety of tenants, residents and occupants in buildings that stem from, or relate to, Government’s response to the Grenfell tragedy, reviews, inquiries or working groups.

Post Offices

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the postcode location is of every large post office in the UK.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Government recognises the critical role that post offices play in communities and for small businesses across the UK. This is why the Government committed to safeguard the post office network and protect existing rural services. The overall number of post offices across the UK remains at its most stable in decades with over 11,500 branches thanks to significant Government investment of over £2 billion since 2010. While the Government sets the strategic direction for the Post Office, it allows the company the commercial freedom to deliver this strategy as an independent business. The postcode location of every large Post Office in the UK is an operational matter for Post Office Limited. I have therefore asked the Group Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the hon Member on this matter. A copy of the reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Business: Intellectual Property

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the Government plans to charge businesses to re-register for intellectual property protection in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Chris Skidmore: The Government has confirmed we will create comparable UK trade marks and re registered designs free of charge, in respect of all registered EU trade marks and designs. Businesses with pending EU trade mark and design applications can apply to the UK for the same protections afforded to their EU right, and pay the normal UK fees. Patents covering the UK are not affected by EU exit; this includes patents granted under the (non-EU) European Patent Convention, which the UK will continue to be party to. Supplementary protection certificates for patented pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals already take effect as UK national rights under EU law. As the current legal framework will be maintained at exit, these will not need to be re-registered to remain in effect.

Parental Leave

Jo Swinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 26 April 2018 to Question 137053 on parental leave, when the three-yearly review on the implementation of shared parental leave will be published.

Kelly Tolhurst: The evaluation is ongoing and we are collecting data from a wide variety of sources, including the largest survey of parents to be undertaken in 10 years. We expect to be in a position to publish the findings of the evaluation later this year, subject to the data collection process. This is slightly later than we originally expected but it is important to get this right.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Private Education

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2018 to Question 196148 on Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Private Education, what the current maximum level of financial subsidy per child is that can be claimed by staff in his Department to support the private education of their children at UK schools.

Sir Alan Duncan: Foreign and Commonwealth Office staff who are posted overseas at regular intervals during their career may claim Continuity of Education Allowance towards the cost of standard tuition fees plus boarding at UK schools, up to the applicable ceiling per term for a junior or senior pupil, and subject to eligibility criteria.The current ceilings are (per term, based on a three term school year):Senior Boarder£10,570Senior Day£7,400Junior Boarder£9,291Junior Day£6,504 Where school fees exceed the termly ceiling, staff are required to meet the difference.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Private Education

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the corrected Answer of 18 March 2019 to Question 196150 on Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Private Education, how many of the 541 children whose private education in UK schools was supported by his Department in 2016-17 received the maximum level of financial subsidy available per child.

Sir Alan Duncan: 192 of the 541 children did so.

Liu Feiyue and Wang Quanzhang

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Chinese counterpart on the recent jail sentences given to (a) journalist and human rights activist Liu Feiyue and (b) human rights lawyer Wang Quanzhang.

Mark Field: We are deeply concerned about reports that human rights lawyers and activists are being detained in China.I raised Wang Quanzhang's case with the Chinese Government during my visit last July. My colleague the Foreign Secretary also raised Wang Quanzhang's case last July, when he met Chinese State Councillor Wang Yi.The Foreign Secretary also released a statement on 29 January 2019, which expressed concern over the sentencing of both Wang Quanzhang and Liu Feiyue, and urged the Chinese government to ensure fundamental civil and political rights are protected, in line with China's constitution and its international commitments.Since then, senior diplomats in Beijing, including the British Ambassador to China, have met with Wang Quanzhang's family. A British diplomat also attempted to attend Mr Wang's trial on 26 December, though was denied entry to the courtroom. We continue to monitor his case.

Gaza: Death

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he has taken to ensure there is an independent and transparent investigation into killings on the Gaza border in 2018.

Mark Field: I refer the hon. Member to the answer of 26 March 2019 (PQ 235241).

Christianity: Oppression

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent steps the Government is taking to help tackle the persecution of Christians overseas.

Mark Field: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is committed to using our influence to defend Freedom of Religion or Belief as a universal human right which should be enjoyed by everyone. That is why the Prime Minister appointed Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon as her Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion or Belief. Lord Ahmad regularly raises this topic with international counterparts and through the Human Rights Council. In recent years we have seen reports of a particular rise in the persecution of Christians. The Foreign Secretary launched the independent review of FCO support for persecuted Christians on 30 January. The Review will be led by the Bishop of Truro, and will map levels of persecution and discrimination against Christians around the world, and provide robust recommendations on how the FCO can respond. A final report will be presented to the Foreign Secretary this summer.

India: Christianity

Paul Girvan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterpart in India on the persecution of Christians in that country.

Mark Field: The British High Commission in New Delhi, our network of Deputy High Commissions, and Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials in London maintain a continuous assessment of the situation across India, including Christian persecution. Our officials regularly meet with Christian minority representatives. Most recently, the British High Commission highlighted the importance of Christian persecution to the British Government with India's Ministry of External Affairs on 25 March 2019. We also run a number of projects with religious minorities to raise awareness of their rights and promote interfaith tolerance in India.We will continue to engage the Indian government and the wider international community on this matter.

Papua:: Political Prisoners

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Indonesian Government on West Papuan political prisoners held in West Papua and throughout Indonesia.

Mark Field: The British Government follows the situation in Papua closely. Officials at our Embassy in Jakarta visit Papua and West Papua provinces regularly. Officials press the Indonesian authorities to address legitimate human rights concerns, including upholding the right of all citizens to protest peacefully, and promote the sustainable and equitable development of the provinces. We fully support the positive steps taken by President Joko Widodo to release political prisoners.

Papua: Human Rights

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to promote human rights of West Papuans.

Mark Field: The British Government follows the situation in Papua closely. Officials at our Embassy in Jakarta visit Papua and West Papua provinces regularly. Officials press the Indonesian authorities to address legitimate human rights concerns, including upholding the right of all citizens to protest peacefully, and promote the sustainable and equitable development of the provinces. The Ambassador raised the recent violence in Nduga Regency with senior officials in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in January.

Thailand: Elections and Human Rights

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in the Thai Government on (a) outcome of that country’s election and (b) protection of human rights in Thailand.

Mark Field: Ahead of the elections in Thailand on Sunday 24 March, the UK engaged in regular dialogue at Ministerial and senior official level with the Thai authorities and urged them to embrace a free and open environment in which elections could occur, including during Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha's meeting with the Prime Minister in June 2018.Following the elections on Sunday, I issued a statement welcoming the fact that elections had taken place and highlighted that it was important that any reported irregularities were investigated swiftly, fairly and transparently. I also emphasised that the process of government formation should be conducted in a proper and open manner, and reflect what people voted for.The UK remains concerned about the human rights situation in Thailand, and the Embassy in Bangkok regularly uses meetings with the Thai government to raise human rights concerns. This includes the right of human rights defenders to carry out work without fear of harassment or reprisals and the importance of full implementation of UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.In its statement at the Human Rights Council on 7 March, the UK called on Thailand to sign the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees, and to maintain space for all voices to be heard in the election campaign.The UK continues to support the right of the media to operate in a free and open manner in Thailand.

USA: North Korea

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterpart in the US administration on the (a) imposition and (b) maintenance of sanctions against North Korea.

Mark Field: I refer the Honourable Member to the answer I gave to the Honourable Member for East Londonderry on 11 March 2019, PQ 228628.

Crimea: Tatars

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to (a) the Russian Ambassador in London and (b) his Russian counterpart on actions taken against Crimean Tatars in Russian-occupied Crimea.

Sir Alan Duncan: We are deeply concerned by ongoing reports of human rights abuses against the Crimean Tatar community. The Foreign Secretary has not made direct representations to the Russian Ambassador in London but has publicly condemned Russian human rights abuses in Crimea. Most recently, he co-signed an op-ed with EU partners on 27 February in which he criticised Russia's treatment of the Tatar community, and, in a statement to mark the fifth anniversary of Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea, condemned Russia's continued pattern of human rights violations in the peninsula and called for the release of all Ukrainian political prisoners being held by Russia. The UK supports the work of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, which works to reduce violations by strengthening the field presence of human rights monitors and reporting on the situation. In coordination with international partners, we continue to raise our concerns in international fora, including the UN, OSCE and NATO.

Brunei: LGBT People

Christine Jardine: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Minister of State for Asia and the Pacific made representations to the Government of Brunei on the whipping and stoning to death of LGBT+ people during his visit to that country in August 2018.

Mark Field: I raised UK concerns about hudud punishments during my visit to Brunei Darussalam in August 2018. More recently I raised these issues on Friday 29 March in a letter to the Deputy Foreign Minister. Additionally the British High Commission in Bandar Seri Begawan regularly discusses the introduction of the Sharia Penal Code with the Government of Brunei.We will continue to encourage and work with the Bruneian Government, as with many other countries, to remove corporal and capital punishment from their statutes. We will also urge them to take steps to decriminalise and pass laws to protect LGBT people from all forms of discrimination.The UK believes in the right to live with dignity, free from violence or discrimination irrespective of a person's sexual orientation. The International community must uphold the universality of human rights; the criminalisation of same-sex relations is wrong.The UK is committed to combating discrimination and violence against LGBT people throughout the Commonwealth and ensured that last year's Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting Communique included the most progressive language yet on LGBT rights, complimented by an historic speech from the Prime Minister, and backed up with major programme spending on gender equality and LGBT rights.Foreign and Commonwealth Office travel advice has been updated to alert British citizens of the introduction of the new local laws in Brunei and we continue to lobby against the use of such punishments.

Malta: Hijacking

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the Maltese authorities on preventing additional occurrences of hijacking such as the recent incident of a Turkish-registered oil tanker which was detained having been bound for Europe instead of its intended destination of Libya.

Sir Alan Duncan: The UK commends Malta for the swift action of its armed forces to the recent hijacking of ElHiblu 1 and for allowing the 108 rescued migrants to disembark. This latest incident highlights the desperation of these migrants and the urgent need to establish a more predictable voluntary relocation mechanism, as being discussed within the EU. An international response is required to effectively tackle irregular migration and to prevent any future occurrence of hijacking.

Brunei: LGBT People

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government will take in response to the decision by Brunei to introduce a new Penal Code which could result in LGBTQ people being whipped, tortured or stoned to death for consensual same-sex relations.

Mark Field: I raised UK concerns about hudud punishments during my visit to Brunei Darussalam in August 2018. More recently I raised these issues on Friday 29 March in a letter to the Deputy Foreign Minister. Additionally the British High Commission in Bandar Seri Begawan regularly discusses the introduction of the Sharia Penal Code with the Government of Brunei.We will continue to encourage and work with the Bruneian Government, as with many other countries, to remove corporal and capital punishment from their statutes. We will also urge them to take steps to decriminalise and pass laws to protect LGBT people from all forms of discrimination.The UK believes in the right to live with dignity, free from violence or discrimination irrespective of a person's sexual orientation. The International community must uphold the universality of human rights; the criminalisation of same-sex relations is wrong.The UK is committed to combating discrimination and violence against LGBT people throughout the Commonwealth and ensured that last year's Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting Communique included the most progressive language yet on LGBT rights, complimented by an historic speech from the Prime Minister, and backed up with major programme spending on gender equality and LGBT rights.Foreign and Commonwealth Office travel advice has been updated to alert British citizens of the introduction of the new local laws in Brunei and we continue to lobby against the use of such punishments.

China: Transplant Surgery

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 6 November 2018 to Question 185605, if he will make representations to the World Health Organisation on waiting list times for organ transplants in China compared to other developed countries.

Mark Field: We are aware of reports that allege that organ harvesting may be taking place in China, including suggestions that minority and religious groups are being specifically targeted. The British Government continues to take these reports extremely seriously.These reports include the 2016 update to the Kilgour, Matas and Gutmann report and other information provided so far to the ongoing tribunal organised by the International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China and chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice QC. We continue to scrutinise the situation carefully and review new information as it becomes available. At present, however, our assessment is that there is not a strong enough evidential base to substantiate the claim that systematic state-sponsored or sanctioned organ harvesting is taking place in China.The World Health Organisation (WHO) is a specialised UN agency with an office in Beijing, which works with the Chinese Government on a range of priority health issues. The WHO collates global data on organ donations. We will update the WHO via our Embassy in Beijing on the issues raised in the recent debate in Parliament, which included references to the 2016 update to the report 'Bloody Harvest/The Slaughter' and waiting list times for organ transplants in China. It would not be appropriate for us to make representations to the WHO to attend a tribunal that is independent of government, although this of course does not preclude the organisers of the tribunal from doing so.

China: Organs

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer on 6 November 2018 to Question 185606, if he will formally request that World Health Organisation officials attend the April hearings in London of the people's independent tribunal on China.

Mark Field: We are aware of reports that allege that organ harvesting may be taking place in China, including suggestions that minority and religious groups are being specifically targeted. The British Government continues to take these reports extremely seriously.These reports include the 2016 update to the Kilgour, Matas and Gutmann report and other information provided so far to the ongoing tribunal organised by the International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China and chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice QC. We continue to scrutinise the situation carefully and review new information as it becomes available. At present, however, our assessment is that there is not a strong enough evidential base to substantiate the claim that systematic state-sponsored or sanctioned organ harvesting is taking place in China.The World Health Organisation (WHO) is a specialised UN agency with an office in Beijing, which works with the Chinese Government on a range of priority health issues. The WHO collates global data on organ donations. We will update the WHO via our Embassy in Beijing on the issues raised in the recent debate in Parliament, which included references to the 2016 update to the report 'Bloody Harvest/The Slaughter' and waiting list times for organ transplants in China. It would not be appropriate for us to make representations to the WHO to attend a tribunal that is independent of government, although this of course does not preclude the organisers of the tribunal from doing so.

China: Organs

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the World Health Organisation's access to China to evaluate the Chinese organ transplant system.

Mark Field: We are aware of reports that allege that organ harvesting may be taking place in China, including suggestions that minority and religious groups are being specifically targeted. The British Government continues to take these reports extremely seriously.These reports include the 2016 update to the Kilgour, Matas and Gutmann report and other information provided so far to the ongoing tribunal organised by the International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China and chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice QC. We continue to scrutinise the situation carefully and review new information as it becomes available. At present, however, our assessment is that there is not a strong enough evidential base to substantiate the claim that systematic state-sponsored or sanctioned organ harvesting is taking place in China.The World Health Organisation (WHO) is a specialised UN agency with an office in Beijing, which works with the Chinese Government on a range of priority health issues. The WHO collates global data on organ donations. We will update the WHO via our Embassy in Beijing on the issues raised in the recent debate in Parliament, which included references to the 2016 update to the report 'Bloody Harvest/The Slaughter' and waiting list times for organ transplants in China.

China: Organs

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the validity of reports of forced organ extraction in China.

Mark Field: We are aware of reports that allege that organ harvesting may be taking place in China, including suggestions that minority and religious groups are being specifically targeted. The British Government continues to take these reports extremely seriously.These reports include the 2016 update to the Kilgour, Matas and Gutmann report and other information provided so far to the ongoing tribunal organised by the International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China and chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice QC. We continue to scrutinise the situation carefully and review new information as it becomes available. At present, however, our assessment is that there is not a strong enough evidential base to substantiate the claim that systematic state-sponsored or sanctioned organ harvesting is taking place in China. We will continue to review any new evidence that is presented to us.The World Health Organisation (WHO) collates global data on organ donations and works with China through its country office in Beijing. We will update the WHO via our Embassy in Beijing on recent concerns in the UK about reports of organ harvesting in China, including those raised in Parliament.

Climate Change: International Cooperation

Paul Blomfield: What recent assessment he has made of progress through international co-operation on tackling climate change.

Mark Field: The current level of global ambition is frankly out of keeping with the magnitude of the problem. More greenhouse gases are in our atmosphere, and the climate is changing faster than at any time in human history. This requires unprecedented, rapid action to reduce emissions and build resilience and adaptation strategies. The UK is committed to promoting further international co-operation to achieve this.

Climate Change: International Cooperation

Mr Paul Sweeney: What recent assessment he has made of progress through international co-operation on tackling climate change.

Mark Field: The current level of global ambition is frankly out of keeping with the magnitude of the problem. More greenhouse gases are in our atmosphere, and the climate is changing faster than at any time in human history. This requires unprecedented, rapid action to reduce emissions and build resilience and adaptation strategies. The UK is committed to promoting further international co-operation to achieve this.

Pacific Alliance: Foreign Relations

Greg Hands: What plans he has to strengthen the UK's relations with Pacific Alliance countries.

Sir Alan Duncan: Latin America is an increasingly important partner to the UK. We have strong and close relationships with all four member states of the Pacific Alliance: Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. Trade with the bloc increased by 4.5% from 2017 to 2018. We are strengthening partnerships using tools like the Prosperity Fund, Conflict Stability and Security Fund and International Climate Finance to implement programmes of mutual interest, for example in good governance, green growth, security and justice reform, infrastructure and rural and urban development in order to create the conditions for sustainable economic growth and increased trade.

Press Freedom

Mr John Whittingdale: What diplomatic steps he is taking to help protect the rights and freedoms of journalists throughout the world.

Mark Field: The UK is committed to the protection of journalists. We have launched a campaign to shine a global spotlight on the subject of media freedom and increase the costs to those who abuse it. This includes liaising with multilateral, bilateral and civil society partners to explore the effectiveness of the protection mechanisms and funds that already exist, and consider where we can best add value.

Sudan: Human Rights

Luke Pollard: What diplomatic steps he is taking to respond to human rights concerns in Sudan.

Harriett Baldwin: We regularly discuss our concerns about the human rights situation with the Government of Sudan. I and others have raised directly with the Sudanese Foreign Minister our serious concerns at the government’s unacceptable response to the on-going protests.

Cyprus: Politics and Government

Theresa Villiers: What recent discussions he has had with international partners on delivering a negotiated settlement to reunite Cyprus.

Sir Alan Duncan: The UK strongly supports a just and lasting settlement of the Cyprus issue, based on the internationally accepted model of a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation. Both I and my Rt Hon Friend the Foreign Secretary support consultations through our continued dialogue with the parties and the UN. We encourage all sides to work towards a resumption of talks and stand ready to discuss how we can support progress.

Attorney General

Extradition: USA

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the The Attorney General, for what reasons three former Credit Suisse employees, Andrew James Pearse, Surjan Singh and Detelina Vaneva Subeva who are subject to an extradition request from US authorities, have not been charged under UK law.

Robert Buckland: Charging decisions are matters for the Directors of the Crown Prosecution Service and the Serious Fraud Office, who act independently. Such decisions are made by applying the Code for Crown Prosecutors. I cannot comment on individual cases.

Department of Health and Social Care

Cancer: Medical Treatments

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many oncology patients have been registered to receive treatment through the NHS in each year since 2010.

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much the NHS spent on providing oncological treatment in each year since 2010.

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many IT systems are used within oncological treatment in the NHS.

Caroline Dinenage: NHS England holds data in relation to the number of people starting definitive cancer treatment in each year from 2010. This includes people who have received their first cancer treatment in that year, which includes all types of cancer treatment and not just oncological treatments (chemotherapy and radiotherapy). The number of people receiving their first treatment for cancer each year has risen significantly each year since 2010. It should be noted that the 2018 data is published but includes three months of provisional data, so could be subject to slight adjustment.YearPatients receiving first treatment2010242,3962011252,4832012259,8532013264,4372014271,6622015279,8872016285,8942017295,1332018308,058Total2,459,803 NHS England holds data in relation to specialised commissioning spend that will contribute to the overall spend, from 2013/14 onwards. The financial values have been consolidated through the use of NPoC (National Programme of Care) codes and are taken from our annual spend analysis exercise. This exercise uses Provider Aggregate Contract Monitoring as the basis for the data; where this data is incomplete hubs will apportion / estimate any missing values. The costs for chemotherapy and specialised cancer surgery have been combined for 2013/14 and 2014/15. 2013/142014/152015/162016/172017/18NPoC£ million£ million£ million£ million£ millionB01 - Radiotherapy340.2315.2368.5425.0390.9B02 - Chemotherapy1,730.82,305.91,417.11,858.32,014.8B03 - Specialised cancer surgery1,071.3806.31,240.5B04 - Specialised cancer diagnostics56.366.378.378.198.2B05 - Children and young adult cancer services79.994.0121.9124.1178.8Total2,207.22,781.43,057.13,291.83,923.1 Additionally, as a further indication toward total spend, NHS Improvement estimates the total cost to National Health Service trusts and NHS foundation trusts for providing oncological treatment as follows.YearEstimated total cost (£ million)2010-11£1,8012011-12£2,0512012-13£2,2592013-14£2,4572014-15£2,7062015-16£2,8642016-17£2,9552017-18£3,224 The data source for the table is from reference costs, which are the average unit costs to NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts of providing defined services in a given financial year to NHS patients. Cost data provided includes:- Those that relate to the following treatment function code (TFC):- 260 - Paediatric medical oncology- 370 - Medical oncology- 503 - Gynaecological oncology- 800 - Clinical oncology (previously radiotherapy); - Cancer multi-disciplinary team meetings;- Chemotherapy and radiotherapy services; and- Cancer related community health services.This may not cover all costs associated with oncology. There are areas related to oncology where the costs cannot be identified. These would include:- Homecare drugs;- Diagnostic imaging; and- Other cancer related health resource groups (HRGs) in other TFCs. There are no primary care costs included within the data.Data on the number of IT systems used within oncology treatment in the NHS is not available.

Cancer: Health Professions

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) nurses and (b) doctors are specifically employed within the oncology speciality.

Caroline Dinenage: NHS Digital publishes Hospital and Community Health Services workforce statistics. These include staff working in hospital trusts and clinical commissioning groups, but not staff working in primary care, local authorities or other providers. The latest NHS Digital workforce statistics show that as at 30 December 2018 there are 1,317 doctors with a speciality in clinical oncology and 985 doctors with a speciality in medical oncology. The figures include all doctors working in the specialty of oncology such as consultants, associate specialists, specialty doctors, doctors in training etc. The latest NHS Digital workforce statistics show that as at 30 December 2018 there are 2,093 nurses who work in an area of ‘clinical oncology’ and 1,237 nurses who work in an area of ‘medical oncology’. This data represents nurses who are working in services related to oncology, rather than nurses with specialist training in oncology.

NHS: Drugs

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS England plans to continue to fund the NICE commissioning support programme until the capacity of the NICE appraisal programme is increased to enable the routine assessment of all new medicines.

Caroline Dinenage: NHS England is continuing the commissioning support work programme in 2019/20, with the expectation that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence will have extended its capacity by 2020.

Clinical Priorities Advisory Group

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which clinical policies awaiting review by the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group involve the use of the NICE commissioning support programme.

Caroline Dinenage: The clinical policies awaiting review by the Clinical Priorities Advisory Group, which involve the use of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) commissioning support work programme are as follows:- Chenodeoxycholic acid and cholic acid for treating inborn errors in primary bile acid synthesis;- Telotristat for treating carcinoid syndrome;- Bictegravir-emtricitabine-tenofovir alafenamide for treating HIV-1;- Idebenone for treating Leber hereditary optic neuropathy;- Canakinumab for treating periodic fever syndromes;- Emicizumab for bleed prevention in severe and moderate haemophilia A without inhibitors;- Dolutegravir with rilpivirine for treating HIV in people with viral suppression;- Doravirine for treating HIV infection;- Vonicog alfa for the treatment of bleeding in adults with von Willebrand disease; and- Mercaptamine hydrochloride for treating corneal cystine crystal deposits caused by cystinosis.NICE’s work on Ivacaftor for treating cystic fibrosis with a R117H mutation in the CFTR gene is currently paused.

Eating Disorders

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many adults started eating disorder treatment in (a) 2016-17 and (b) 2017-18.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Eating Disorders

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many adults were referred for assessment of a suspected eating disorder in (a) 2016-17 and (b) 2017-18; and what proportion of those referrals were made to an eating disorders service.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information requested is collected in two ways in the Mental Health Services Dataset. The information available is shown in the following tables. Number of adults (age 18 and over at time of referral) referred to specialist secondary mental health services with a primary reason for referral of eating disorders, 2016-17 and 2017-18.YearNumber of adults2016-177,4522017-1811,333Source: Mental Health Services Dataset - NHS Digital Note: This is a record of referrals to specialist secondary mental health services for which the Primary Reason for Referral (Mental Health) is code 12 (Eating Disorders) Number of adults (age 18 and over at time of referral) referred to an eating disorders service, with a primary reason for referral of eating disorders, 2016-17 and 2017-18.YearNumber of adults2016-174,6782017-187,166Source: Mental Health Services Dataset - NHS Digital Note: This is a record of referrals to Specialist Mental Health Services code 'C03' (Eating Disorders/Dietetics Service) There are data quality issues with both data sets and increases in numbers may be the result of improving coverage and data quality rather than a reflection of service activity. The number of submitters to the Mental Health Services Dataset increased from 85 in April 2016 to 108 in March 2018. Therefore, the figures shown are known to be incomplete at England level.

Eating Disorders

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the size of the workforce was in working time equivalent of (a) community eating disorders services for children and young people and (b) adult community eating disorders services, on 31 March 2017.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The information is not available in the format requested.

Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to establish a diagnostic and care pathway for Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have been diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome in each of the last five years.

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of testing expectant mothers for hypermobility.

Caroline Dinenage: To facilitate better and quicker diagnosis, patients with suspected Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) are eligible to be tested on the newly-established Genomic Medicine Service. NHS England commissions services for patients who have EDS from specialist rheumatology centres. Some patients may also be seen in more local services, commissioned by clinical commissioning groups, including rheumatology, physiotherapy, and dermatology. NHS England also commissions a Complex EDS service through two expert centres that ensures accurate diagnosis for patients where this has been difficult. The Complex EDS service provides management plans for local care providers and communicates which allows the local health care professionals to implement the recommendations and monitor the patient’s progress. We currently do not hold figures on the number of EDS diagnosis made in each of the last five years. However, Public Health England’s National Congenital Anomaly and Rare Disease Registration Service have been working to develop a rare disease registry which will collect prospective data on EDS diagnosis in England.

Antibiotics: Drug Resistance

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to tackle the increase in anti-microbial resistance.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Building on the achievements in the UK Five Year in Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Strategy (2013-2018), the Government published ‘Contained and controlled: The UK’s 20-year vision for antimicrobial resistance’ and ‘Tackling Antimicrobial Resistance (2019-2024): The UK’s five-year national action plan’ on 24 January 2019. The two documents set out the United Kingdom’s vision for a world in which AMR in contained and controlled by 2040 and challenging five-year ambitions that will begin to fulfil the vision. The Department will coordinate work across Government and its agencies to implement the national action plan, and the UK Government will continue to play its part as a global leader in tackling the problem of AMR by modelling best practice at home and supporting progress internationally. More information on the UK’s vision and national action plan can be found at the following links: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/773065/uk-20-year-vision-for-antimicrobial-resistance.pdf https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/773130/uk-amr-5-year-national-action-plan.pdf

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans NHS England has to ensure that every child and adolescent mental health service includes speech and language therapists.

Caroline Dinenage: The NHS Long Term Plan, published on 7 January 2019 sets out where extra National Health Service funding will be focused and how services will be designed, including the importance of ensuring speech and language therapy is joined up with children’s mental health services. Work will take place with local areas to design and implement models of care for children and young people that are age appropriate, closer to home and bring together physical and mental health services. These models will support health development by providing holistic care across local authority and NHS services, including primary care, community services, speech and language therapy, school nursing, oral health, acute and specialised services.

Speech and Language Disorders: Children

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans Public Health England has to align the Healthy Child Programme service specification with the Speech, Language and Communication pathway for children under five.

Jackie Doyle-Price: To support the speech, language and communication elements of the Healthy Child Programme (HCP), Public Health England (PHE) is partnering with the Department for Education to develop a model speech, language and communication pathway for services for children aged zero to five years. The pathway is built on the best evidence and good practice and will be published by September 2019. This will support local joint commissioning and service provision. The ‘Healthy Child Programme 0-19 (HCP): the health visitor and school nurses commissioning guidance’ was refreshed in March 2018 and is available to view at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/healthy-child-programme-0-to-19-health-visitor-and-school-nurse-commissioning The guidance supports local commissioning and delivery of the HCP and the delivery of the HCP, including the speech, language and communication elements.

Speech and Language Disorders: Children and Young People

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many children and young people in contact with liaison and diversion services have speech, language and communication needs.

Caroline Dinenage: Over the last four years 2,736 children and young people who engaged with liaison and diversion services commissioned by NHS England, were identified as having a speech, language and communication need, of which 284 cases were referred on to services, as summarised in the following table. Interventions to address speech, language and communication (SLC) needs ReferralsNumber of Cases 2015/16Number of Cases 2016/17Number of Cases 2017/18Number of Cases Q1 - Q3 2018/19Total to dateReferral to other agency1029262590Referral for Targeted Service14413634125Referral to specialist SLC service229251369Total Referrals46798772284Need already met111214316267908Advice given32656058215Did not meet threshold for referral158822No appropriate service available locally068216Referral/action indicated but refused by client613322273Other1022613513341,048Cases needing further follow-up24384365170Grand Total3226819058282,736Note:Figures are for England only Information is collected on the number of cases seen by liaison and diversion services, not the number of individuals seen. An individual may have been seen by liaison and diversion services on more than one occasion in any given time period.

Mental Capacity

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what criteria will be used to determine which professionals can train to become an Approved Mental Capacity Professional; and whether those criteria will be made public.

Caroline Dinenage: Under the Liberty Protection Safeguards, the Approved Mental Capacity Professional criteria will be set out in regulations. Further detail on the role will also be outlined in the Statutory Code of Practice. The Government envisages professionals such as social workers, learning disability nurses, occupational therapists, psychologists and other suitable health and social care professionals could take on the role if they meet the criteria set out in regulations.

Healthy Start Scheme

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of people (a) eligible for and (b) that have taken up Healthy Start vouchers.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Between 4 February and 3 March 2019 there were 515,210 beneficiaries eligible to make an application for Healthy Start vouchers. Of these, 282,303 beneficiaries have made an application and have been accepted onto the scheme. There may, in some cases, be more than one beneficiary per household.

Veganism

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will (a) take steps to ensure that vegan meals are offered to inpatients diagnosed with eating disorders and (b) encourage drug companies to develop vegan-friendly prescription (i) medications, (ii) supplement drinks and (iii) feeds.

Stephen Hammond: National Health Service trusts have mechanisms in place for vegan dietary requirements which would be flagged up as a special diet on admission. The kitchens would then provide suitable plant based substitutes to meet nutritional requirements. Each trust will have in place a special menu which will have been signed off by the dietician but would normally be ordered as a special diet. Currently, main ward menus would not provide a vegan choice specifically on the main menu although some vegetarian options would be suitable and marked as such. The new healthcare food standards and strategy group is looking at how all special diets are provided and will cover guidance for trusts around areas such as vegan diets. Medicines manufacturers are to some extent already moving towards animal free products where possible. This allows access to all global markets and reduces regulatory burden. The direction of travel is towards vegetarian/vegan-friendly medicines and this may be aided by future regulatory developments. Technical considerations may make animal-derived ingredients necessary in a few cases, until scientific developments allow substitution. The Department does not offer any vegan supplement drinks or feeds that are either freely available or via prescription.

Brineura

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to make Cerliponase alfa, marketed as Brineura, available on the NHS for the treatment of ceroid lipofuscinosis type 2.

Caroline Dinenage: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is currently developing highly specialised technology (HST) guidance on Brineura (cerliponase alfa) for treating neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis type 2. Further information can be found at the following link: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/indevelopment/gid-hst10008 Through its HST programme, NICE makes recommendations on whether very high cost drugs for very small numbers of patients represent an effective use of the National Health Service resources. NHS England is required to fund medicines recommended in NICE’s HST guidance, normally within three months of the publication of final guidance. In the absence of positive guidance from NICE, it is for commissioners to make decisions on whether to fund this treatment based on an assessment of the available evidence.

Cancer: Screening

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the merits of raising the current clinical age limits for screening for (a) breast and (b) cervical cancer.

Caroline Dinenage: In response to the Independent Breast Screening Review 2018, the United Kingdom National Screening Committee (UK NSC) has commissioned work to help clarify what the upper screening age in breast should be and discussed the findings at its meeting in February. The recommendation will be made to Ministers and minutes of the UK NSC meeting will be made available six weeks after the meeting at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/uk-national-screening-committee-uk-nsc We continue to wait for the results of the Age Extension Trial to help provide the evidence needed to better understand what the benefits and harms are when offering screening outside the current recommended screening age. Regarding the age for cervical screening, women will stop receiving routine invitations once they reach 65 unless they need ongoing surveillance or follow up. The natural history of cervical cancer means that it is unlikely that women over this age who have been regularly screened will go on to develop cervical cancer; furthermore, we know that screening becomes more uncomfortable for women as the cervix is less visible after menopause.

Alopecia

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of people who have been diagnosed with alopecia in the UK.

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much the NHS has spent on providing wigs to patients diagnosed with alopecia in each of the last three years for which information is available.

Caroline Dinenage: Information concerning the number of people diagnosed with alopecia is not available. The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence states that alopecia is a relatively common condition, estimated to affect 15 in 10,000 people in the United Kingdom. Alopecia can present at any age, and males and females are affected equally. Information concerning the cost to the National Health Service regarding the provision of wigs for alopecia is not available.

NHS: Staff

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people working on the Procurement Transformation Programme are (a) contingent labour, (b) supplier resource and (c) civil servants.

Stephen Hammond: The numbers of contingent labour working on the Procurement Transformation Programme have fluctuated over the lifecycle of the programme in line with the different levels of requirements needed for procurement work and then moving into transition, with delivery and specific project and contractual milestones needing specialist skillsets. Current contingent labour numbers are 74 as at 29 March 2019. Supplier resource is agreed based on work packages and costs, not headcount. There are multiple suppliers including public sector bodies and they are required to deliver the work on time and to agreed contractual cost. The programme has no view on how many resources the supplier requires to complete the work. The programme currently has 11 civil servants working in key positions on the programme with programme director and Senior Responsible Officer included in these numbers as at 29 March 2019.

Health Services: Equality

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with his devolved Assembly counterparts on health inequalities throughout the UK.

Jackie Doyle-Price: There have been no recent discussions specifically on health inequalities. However, Ministers frequently engage with counterparts in the devolved administrations.

Cervical Cancer: Screening

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of people being able to self-refer for a smear test in a local sexual health clinic.

Caroline Dinenage: The United Kingdom National Screening Committee has made no assessment of the evidence to offer self-referral as part of the National Health Service cervical screening programme. The programme is working with contraception and sexual health clinics to support women who attend for their routine cervical screening, which is offered by some local authorities.

Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the 2019 voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing and access affordability mechanism, whether his Department has conducted an impact assessment on the exemption of smaller companies from the rebate scheme.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department analysed the potential effects of the exemptions detailed in the 2019 Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access. However, this analysis did not take the form of a published impact assessment, as that formal process is not required for the voluntary agreement. The exemption from payments for small companies (sales under £5 million) was also part of the previous voluntary scheme; the 2014 Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme. As such, the Department was already familiar with the scope of the small company exemption in advance of agreement on the 2019 Voluntary Scheme. The Department believes that the continuation of exemptions for small companies and the new approach to medium sized companies (£5 million to £25 million) is appropriate as it supports the growth of the life sciences industry through small and medium sized companies.

Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the 2019 voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing and access affordability mechanism, whether his Department has conducted an impact assessment on how the 36-month exemption of new medicines from contributing to the rebate scheme will effect the NHS's drug procurement Bill.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department analysed the potential effects of the exemptions detailed in the 2019 Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing and Access. However, this analysis did not take the form of a published impact assessment, as that formal process is not required for the voluntary agreement. In order to continue to support innovation and access to new medicines, the 2019 Voluntary Scheme includes a 36 month exemption from payments and freedom of pricing for new active substances (NAS). Under the previous 2014 Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme that ended on 31 December 2018, NASs also had freedom of pricing and exemption from payments, but instead for the five year duration of that scheme. This means that under the 2019 Voluntary Scheme, payments will be received by the Department once that 36-month exemption has ended, sooner than under the previous Scheme, which will then be reinvested in the National Health Service.

Organs: Donors

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to encourage organ donation.

Jackie Doyle-Price: NHS Blood and Transplant is the organ and tissue donor organisation for the United Kingdom and is responsible for matching and allocating donated organs. NHS Blood and Transplant is currently implementing the UK-wide ‘Taking Organ Transplantation to 2020’ Strategy (2013), which aims to achieve world class performance in organ donation and transplantation. Objectives include to increase the number of people on the NHS Organ Donor Register to 30 million by 2020; to improve the consent/authorisation rate to 80% by 2020; and to portray donation as a positive step in the grieving process. While there is an urgent shortage of organs for transplant for people from all backgrounds the problem is particularly acute for black, Asian and minority ethnic patients, who are more likely to need an organ transplant. The Department launched a campaign in July 2018, delivered by NHS Blood and Transplant, with support from the National Black, Asian, Mixed Race and Minority Ethnic Transplant Alliance, to increase donation rates by raising awareness and breaking down barriers to donation within these communities. A toolkit is available at the following link: http://bit.ly/bameODtoolkit In addition, the Organ Donation (Deemed Consent Act) 2019 will be introducing a new system of consent for organ and tissue donation in England, from 2020, to help increase the number of donors. NHS Blood and Transplant will launch a 12-month communication campaign before the law comes into force, to raise awareness of the changes and the options available under the new system.

Autism: Health Services

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve services for people with autism.

Caroline Dinenage: The Government is committed to improving services and support for autistic people. The Autism Act 2009 places a duty on the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to publish a strategy for meeting the needs of autistic adults in England, and to review it periodically. England’s first Cross-Government Adult Autism Strategy, ‘Fulfilling and rewarding lives’, was published in 2010 and in April 2014 the Strategy was updated with the publication of ‘Think Autism’, supported by revised statutory guidance. On 5 December 2018, the Department announced that it was launching a comprehensive review of ‘Think Autism’. This is to ensure the Strategy remains fit for purpose. The Government wants an autism strategy that works for all autistic people, and that is why, working very closely with the Department for Education, we will be extending the strategy to include children. To inform our review of the autism strategy, on 14 March, we launched a national call for evidence on GOV.UK. We want to hear the views of autistic people, their families and carers, as well as those of professionals. We want to know what is working and where more need to be done to ensure that public services meet the needs of autistic people, their families and carers. Our refreshed cross-Government autism strategy, due to be published later this year, will help to deliver this.

Drugs and Medical Equipment: Imports

Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking ensure that UK pharmaceutical and medical companies will not be disadvantaged by unregulated imports from EU companies if the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Stephen Hammond: The Government is committed to the safe and effective regulation of medicines in the United Kingdom; we continue to strengthen safety while ensuring patients and the public have fast access to new, innovative medicines. On 7 March 2019, Parliament voted to agree legislation that would, in the event the UK left the European Union without a deal, amend the UK’s regulatory framework for the safe supply of medicines to the UK. This legislation would see the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency take on the functions currently undertaken by the EU and operate as a standalone regulator for human medicines on the UK market. The provisions include the introduction of various checks and balances on the medicines supply chain, including those imported from the European Economic Area, which will be required to comply with the same regulatory requirements as medicines from the UK.

Pregnancy Tests

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much was spent from the public purse on the Commission on Human Medicines Expert Working Group on Hormone Pregnancy Tests.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Commission on Human Medicines (CHM) advises health ministers on the safety, efficacy and quality of medicinal products. Expert Working Groups of the CHM are comprised of independent experts who work on a voluntary basis and receive reasonable expenses. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency provide a secretariat function to the CHM and its Expert Working Groups. This is included in Agency costs. The Agency is an Executive Agency of the Department and it is established as a Government trading fund, with its work predominantly funded by fees charged to the industry it regulates.

East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust: Legal Costs

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust spent on legal fees on its appeal to the First Tier Tribunal with respect to the Information Commissioner's Office's decision notices on patient safety and welfare information.

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust spent on legal fees defending employment tribunal cases in each year since 2016.

Stephen Hammond: The East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust spent £4,655.29 on legal fees on its appeal to the First Tier Tribunal with respect to the Information Commissioner's Office's decision notices on patient safety and welfare information. The amount East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust has spent on legal fees defending employment tribunal cases in each year since 2016 is set out in the following table. YearAmount2016/17£267,037.812017/18£213,414.202018/19£325,640.03 (year to date)

Health Visitors

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of eligible new parents received the recommended health visitor visits at (a) 28 weeks of pregnancy, (b) between ten days and two weeks after birth, (c) between six and eight weeks after birth, (d) between nine months and one year after birth and (e) between two years and two and a half years after birth, in each region of the UK, in each of the last five years.

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of eligible parents of a second or subsequent child received the recommended health visitor visits at (a) 28 weeks of pregnancy, (b) between ten days and two weeks after birth, (c) between six and eight weeks after birth, (d) between nine months and one year after birth and (e) between two years and two and a half years after birth, in each region of the UK, in each of the last five years.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Data on the number of recommended health visitor visits carried out in the United Kingdom are not available in the format requested. The health visitor service delivery metrics currently cover the antenatal contact, new birth visit, the six-eight week review, the 12-month review and the two-two and half year review and can be viewed at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/child-and-maternal-health-statistics#health-visitor-service-delivery-metrics The metrics do not indicate whether parents already have a child or are new parents.

Autism and Learning Disability: Psychiatric Hospitals

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what baselinefigurehis Departmentwilluse tomeasureprogress in reducingthe number of people with a learning disability and/orautism in mental health hospitals by 50 per cent by end of March2024 as set out in the NHS 10-year planfor people (a) under 18 years old, (b) between 18-24 years old, (c) aged25 and over and(d) in all age groups.

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of people with a learning disability and/or autism in inpatient units (a) who will be (i) under 18 years old, (ii) between 18-24 years old and (iii) aged 25 and over and (b) in total at the end of March 2020.

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department used the (a) Assuring Transformation or (b) MHSDS LDA data set to calculate its on the reduction of inpatient provision for children, young people and adults with a learning disability or autism by (i) end of March 2020 and (ii) end of March 2024.

Caroline Dinenage: The NHS Digital Assuring Transformation dataset is used to measure the reduction in the numbers of children, young people and adults with a learning disability and/or autism who are inpatients in mental health settings in line with the national plan, ‘Building the Right Support’. Assuring Transformation is a live data collection, and the data at the time of publication each month is subject to change with retrospective updates and additions. Patients may be reported on long after admission, for example, due to late diagnosis, leading to changes in the baseline count. The most recent patient count for March 2015, published by NHS Digital for the end of February 2019 is 2,890. This is the baseline for planned reductions in inpatient numbers and against which progress in meeting the aims set out in ‘Building the Right Support’ is measured. The ambition for March 2020 is that we will reduce the rate of inpatients with a learning disability and/or autism to 18.5 adult inpatients in clinical commissioned group-commissioned beds per million adult population, and 18.5 adult inpatients in NHS England-commissioned beds per adult million population. This will equate to a 35% reduction from March 2015 in the total number of inpatients. The NHS Long Term Plan commits to going further, with a net 50% reduction from March 2015 in the number of people with a learning disability, autism or both in specialist inpatient hospitals, by 2023/24. For every one million adults, there will be no more than 30 people with a learning disability and/or autism cared for in an inpatient unit. For children and young people there will be no more than 12 to 15 children with a learning disability, autism or both by 2023/24.

Dyspraxia

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people were referred by their GP for a Dyspraxia assessment in each of the last ten years; how many of those assessments resulted in a diagnosis of Dyspraxia; and the average length of time between GP referral and diagnosis was in that same time period.

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people were referred by their GP to (a) a private occupational therapist, (b) an occupational therapist on the NHS, (c) a private physio-therapist, and (b) a physio-therapist on the NHS for a Dyspraxia assessment in each of the last 10 years.

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the efficacy of the route to diagnosis for dyspraxia for adults.

Caroline Dinenage: The information requested on referrals for a dyspraxia assessment is not collected centrally. We have made no assessment of the efficacy of the route to diagnosis for dyspraxia in adults. Arrangements for referrals for diagnosis of dyspraxia are a matter for local determination with services commissioned by clinical commissioning groups to meet local need.

Dermatology: Consultants

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve the national coverage of consultant dermatologists, particularly in rural or remote areas.

Stephen Hammond: Dermatology is a highly competitive specialty training pathway and often oversubscribed. Nationally and locally there has been a 100% fill rate in dermatology training for the past four years. There has been a 22% increase in full time equivalent (FTE) dermatologists (doctors at the consultant grade) in post since September 2010, with 1,049 FTE dermatologists working in the National Health Service in November 2018. The number of medical specialty training places that are available each year is set by Health Education England and is based on their assessment of service gaps and predicted workforce needs. It is the responsibility of individual NHS trusts to have staffing arrangements in place that deliver safe and effective care. This includes recruiting the staff needed to support these levels and meet local needs.

Health Services: Refugees

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 14 March 2019 to Question 232640, what steps he is taking to ensure that refugees who don’t speak English are able to access statutory support for interpreters; and what steps he is taking to recruit additional interpreters.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Government believes that it is right for commissioners locally to ensure they secure the best possible care and services, balancing demand with supply, for the benefit of their patients and local populations. This is in addition to NHS England’s guidance for commissioners ‘Interpreting and Translation Services in Primary Care’. Public Health England is working to improve healthcare professionals’ awareness of the needs of refugees. The Government is also developing a new strategy this year for English for speakers of other languages, following publication of the Integrated Communities Strategy Green Paper.

NHS: Sexual Offences

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of sexual misconduct claims in the NHS since 2010-11; what the cost was of settling those claims; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Hammond: National Health Service trusts are responsible for dealing with cases of sexual misconduct working with their staff, their security teams, their accredited security management advisors, the police and Crown Prosecution Service to ensure appropriate action is taken to prevent such misconduct in the first place and robust sanctions are taken against perpetrators. We are supporting NHS organisations through our programmes to tackle bullying, harassment, violence and abuse. The following data was obtained from NHS Resolution. The following table sets out the number of sexual misconduct/harassment/abuse claims received by NHS Resolution from 2010/11 to 2017/18, the latest available information.YearNumber of claims (patients)Number of claims (public)Number of claims (staff)Grand Total2010/11490-502011/1216--232012/1328--322013/14235-292014/15306-372015/163586492016/174910-622017/1833--41Grand total2633822323 Note:The data excludes where numbers are less than five to mitigate the risk of individuals involved in incidents being identified.

Skin Cancer: Sunbeds

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will bring forward legislative proposals to require sunbed premises to provide prescribed health information to all users on the associated health risks, including melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Sunbeds Regulation Act 2010 was implemented to prohibit under-18s from using sunbeds. Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, the ultra violet (UV) tanning equipment operator must assess the risks caused by the work activity including those from exposure to UV radiation and take measures to control the risks, including the risk of skin cancer. The Department and the Health and Safety Executive have published guidance to support the enforcement of the regulations and safe use of sunbeds and is available at the following links: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sunbeds-regulations-act-2010-guidance-on-the-implementation-of-the-sunbeds-regulation-act-2010 http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg209.pdf Public Health England (PHE) is currently refreshing its guidance on the use of sunbeds. PHE’s current advice is available to view at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sunbeds-safety-advice The Department is currently considering whether these measures are effective for providing information to sunbed users.

Hospitals: Fire Prevention

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of hospital buildings, of all heights, that use combustible cladding or combustible insulation.

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on extending the scope of the ban on combustible materials to hospitals and care homes.

Stephen Hammond: The regulations implementing the ban on the use of combustible materials in the external walls of certain new high rise buildings, including hospitals, came into force on 21 December 2018. The Government is committed to reviewing the regulations after a year of their operation. The Department of Health and Social Care and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government continue to discuss these matters. Data is not held centrally on hospitals or other National Health Service buildings that have combustible cladding.

Radio Waves: Health Hazards

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has conducted research on the potential effects on public health of radio waves and 5G signals; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department continues to fund research on the effects on health of a range of electromagnetic fields and mobile technologies through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and Public Health England (PHE). Evidence has emerged through dedicated national and international research programmes that have addressed concerns about the fast development of wireless technologies. The Department is committed to funding research to support the evidence base in this area. Most notable current research on this topic funded by the NIHR includes COSMOS, the ongoing international study of mobile phone use and health in adults; and SCAMP, the study of behaviour and health effects of mobile phone use in adolescents, both conducted at Imperial College London. PHE continues to monitor the health-related evidence with respect to electromagnetic fields, including the radio waves from developing wireless communication systems such as 5G.

Life Expectancy: Females

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with (a) the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and (b) other Cabinet colleagues on trends in female life expectancy.

Jackie Doyle-Price: My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care regularly engages with colleagues on matters of common concern.

Hospices: Children

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2019 to Question 235379 on Hospices: Children, what the value will be of the NHS England Children’s Hospice Grant will be in 2019-20; and if he will make it his policy to maintain the level of that grant throughout the lifespan of the NHS Long Term Plan.

Caroline Dinenage: The Children’s Hospice Grant will provide a contribution of £12 million to the sector in 2019/20, an increase of £1 million from the £11 million grant fund in 2018/19. As set out in the NHS Long Term Plan, NHS England committed to increase its contribution to children’s palliative care over the next five years by match funding clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) who commit to increase their investment in local children’s palliative and end of life care services including children’s hospices. Subject to CCGs’ increasing investment, NHS England will match this by up to £7 million a year by 2023/24. This increase is in addition to the Children’s Hospice Grant. NHS England is currently establishing financial reporting systems to monitor the baseline investment of CCGs in children’s palliative and end of life care services. This will enable match funding payments to be made to CCGs where the investments are increased above the investment baseline in the previous year. We would expect hospices to be significant beneficiaries of the additional funding NHS England has committed to over the next five years. In many areas, children’s hospices are the main providers of children’s palliative and end of life care services. However, this new investment may also provide for: community services; short break (respite) services; and out of hours support for children with palliative care needs, which we know is hugely valued by children and their families and carers.

Department for Education

STEM Subjects: Skilled Workers

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the skills gap in STEM subjects.

Nick Gibb: To address the shortage of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills, the Department is encouraging more students into STEM education and training, at all stages from primary school to higher education. As part of the Industrial Strategy, the Government has committed substantial spending on mathematics, digital and technical education to increase the take-up and better teaching of STEM subjects in schools. For example, the Department is funding a new £84 million programme to improve computing teaching and participation, and the Advanced Maths Premium which aims to support schools and colleges in tackling some of the financial barriers to increase participation in post-16 maths. The Department is committed to tackling the gender imbalance in STEM subjects, and has invested in programmes to address female participation, particularly in subjects like computing and physics. This includes the Stimulating Physics Network which has a specific strand focusing on increasing the number of girls’ in physics A level. A Gender Balance in Computing pilot programme will also be launched this year to identify practical interventions that schools (at all stages, excluding post-16) can implement to improve girls’ participation in computing. The Department is improving careers advice in schools so that young people are aware of the high quality options available for both technical and academic routes into STEM and that they have access to information about the variety of careers that STEM pathways have to offer. STEM activities, including employer talks and work visits, are built into school career programmes and the Careers & Enterprise Company funds opportunities for young people to meet a wide range of STEM employers.

Sex and Relationship Education

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which (a) individuals and (b) organisations were sent copies of the Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education draft statutory guidance for governing bodies, proprietors, head teachers, principals, senior leadership teams, teachers prior to its publication; and if he will make a statement.

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whom his Department consulted before drafting the Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education draft statutory guidance for governing bodies, proprietors, head teachers, principals, senior leadership teams, teachers; what research was evaluated; and if he will make a statement.

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information is provided to parents on the content of sex education being taught in their child's primary school; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: Sex education has been compulsory in all maintained secondary schools since 1993. It is not compulsory in primary schools and will not be once the proposed new subjects of Relationships Education and Relationships and Sex Education become compulsory. The statutory sex and relationships education (SRE) guidance (2000) states that maintained schools must have an up-to-date policy that sets out the school’s approach to sex education and that they should consult their pupils’ parents on this, making the policy available to parents. It is for schools to determine what range of information they provide to parents, but they must have regard to statutory guidance.The Government is now making Relationships Education compulsory for all primary pupils, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) compulsory for all secondary pupils and Health Education compulsory for all pupils in primary and secondary state funded schools from September 2020.All schools will be required to have in place a written policy for Relationships Education and for RSE. Schools must consult parents in developing and reviewing their policy. Schools should ensure that the policy meets the needs of pupils and parents and reflects the community they serve. Schools should also ensure that the policy sets out the content of the subjects, how the content is taught and who is responsible for teaching it. The draft guidance is clear that schools should ensure that, when they consult parents, they provide examples of the resources they plan to use. Schools should assess each resource that they propose to use to ensure that it is appropriate for the age and maturity of pupils, and is sensitive to their needs.The key decisions on these subjects and the drafting of the guidance were informed by a thorough engagement process. The public call for evidence was launched in December 2017 and received over 23,000 responses from parents, young people and schools. The Department engaged with 90 organisations representing a broad range of views and a broad range of evidence. These stakeholders can be found in the Government response to the Call for Evidence at: https://consult.education.gov.uk/pshe/relationships-education-rse-health-education/supporting_documents/180718%20Consultation_call%20for%20evidence%20response_policy%20statement.pdf. The revised draft guidance was not shared publicly between the close of the consultation and it being finalised following decisions by Ministers in light of the consultation responses. It was only shared, under embargo, immediately in advance of publication with a small number of stakeholders to allow for communications on the day of publication.

Sex and Relationship Education

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what requests for information relating to (a) abortion and (b) sex and relationships education were made to his Department and its predecessor under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in each year since 2010; whether each request was (i) agreed to and (ii) refused; if he will place in the Library a copy of the information provided in response to each request; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: The information requested is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.The new guidance for relationships, sex and health education says that teaching should cover contraception, developing intimate relationships and resisting pressure to have sex. Pupils should be taught what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour in relationships. They should also be taught that there are many different legal provisions whose purpose is to protect young people and which ensure young people take responsibility for their actions. Pupils should be made aware of the relevant legal provisions when topics such as abortion are being taught.

Schools: Statistics

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will place in the Library copies of the Memorandum of Understanding and any other data-sharing agreement for pupil, student and workforce data between his Department and the Home Office.

Nick Gibb: The data sharing agreement between the Department for Education and the Home Office, and the Umbrella Memorandum of Understanding, will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Pupils: Personal Records

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2018 to Question 201097 on Pupils: Personal Records,  what methods schools have as available to them as joint data controllers to withdraw (a) nationality and (b) country-of-birth data that they collected in the school census since 2016 and which parents now wish to retract as a result of the ongoing use of pupil data for immigration enforcement purposes.

Nick Gibb: Data collected on pupil nationality and country of birth is not used for immigration enforcement purposes and has not been shared externally with third parties, including other government departments. The Department collected data on the nationality, country of birth and proficiency in English of pupils via the school census between autumn 2016 and summer 2018. The data are collected for research purposes to help us understand the impact of migration on the school system. Understanding trends in migration, and the associated needs in the school system, helps us ensure that all children, wherever they are from, have the best possible education. The right to erasure or right to retraction are classed as individual rights requests under general data protection regulation (GDPR) and the 2018 Data Protection Act (DPA). Whilst individual rights are not absolute under GDPR/DPA, any individual rights requests from data subjects for data held or processed by the Department, or from individuals with unambiguous consent to act on behalf of a data subject, should be made via the contact us form on the DfE website and selecting ‘something else’ under the ‘question’ option. The form is available here: https://form.education.gov.uk/fillform.php?self=1&form_id=cCCNJ1xSfBE&type=form&ShowMsg=1&form_name=Contact+the+Department+for+Education&noRegister=false&ret=%2Fmodule%2Fservices&noLoginPrompt=1.

Free School Meals: North Norfolk

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of (a) all children and (b) children eligible for free school meals reached a Good Level of Development at age five in North Norfolk in each of the last three years.

Nadhim Zahawi: The requested data is shown in the attached tables. 



236310_table_children_with_good_development_level
(Word Document, 41.5 KB)

Domestic Violence

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what his policy is on the provision of education to girls on domestic violence against men and boys.

Nick Gibb: The Department is making relationships education compulsory for all primary pupils, relationships and sex education (RSE) compulsory for all secondary pupils from September 2020. From that point, health education will also be compulsory for all pupils.These subjects will help in ensuring all young people, at age appropriate points, know the signs of unhealthy or abusive relationships and that violence in relationships and domestic abuse is unlawful and never acceptable. Throughout these subjects there is a focus on ensuring pupils know how to get further support.Specifically, the updated draft guidance sets out that RSE will cover the concepts of, and laws relating to, sexual consent, sexual exploitation, abuse, grooming, coercion, harassment, forced marriage, rape, domestic abuse and female genital mutilation and how these can affect current and future relationships. The updated draft guidance can be accessed via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/relationships-and-sex-education-and-health-education.Children exposed to domestic abuse are more likely to experience mental health difficulties, be excluded from school and become victims of domestic abuse in later life. That is why teaching about this in RSE is important and demonstrates how the subjects will support the measures set out in the draft Domestic Abuse Bill.

Schools: Defibrillators

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has plans to allocate funding from the public purse to the procurement of defibrillators by schools.

Nadhim Zahawi: Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) are currently available for schools and other education providers in the UK to purchase through the NHS Supply Chain at a reduced cost. These arrangements are available to all UK schools, including academies and independent schools, sixth-form colleges, further education institutions and early years settings (including holiday and out-of-school providers).There is no legal requirement for schools to purchase an AED, but the government encourages them to do so as part of their first aid equipment.The government has produced guidance for schools on buying, installing and using an AED, which can be viewed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/automated-external-defibrillators-aeds-in-schools.

Pupil Referral Units: Speech Therapy

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which Pupil Referral Units (a) employ speech and language therapists or (b) have access to speech and language therapy services.

Nadhim Zahawi: The 2015 Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Code of Practice sets out high expectations of schools, alternative provision, and colleges about how they identify and meet the needs of pupils with SEND, including those with speech, language and communication needs. The Code emphasises that schools, including alternative provision, should work closely with their local authority and other providers to commission specialist services directly, such as speech and language therapists. The department does not collect data on which pupil referral units employ speech and language therapists. Commissioners of alternative provision should ensure that there is a clear plan for pupils’ progression and keep the arrangements under regular review so that they can be adapted in response to the needs of the child or young person. Where an alternative provider has concerns that a child or young person may have a speech and language difficulty that is not being appropriately supported, then they should raise their concerns with the commissioner and agree how these potential needs will be assessed and supported.

Special Educational Needs

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to consult experts in speech, language and communication on the development of the early career framework for teachers' curricula and training materials.

Nick Gibb: The Department has worked closely with the teaching profession to develop the early career framework (ECF). Teachers and academics with expertise in supporting special educational needs and disability (SEND) pupils were closely involved in the design of the ECF. The framework has at its centre approaches that support the needs of all pupils including those pupils with the four areas of need set out in the SEND Code of Practice Drawing on the ECF, the Department’s intention is to procure the development of high-quality curricula and materials which can help schools to put in place effective support and training for the early career teachers. The Department will continue to engage the sector as plans develop to ensure the policy is delivered successfully.

Children in Care: Mental Health

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 13 February 2019 to Question 216909 on Children in Care: Health Services, what discussions the consortium of partners delivering the mental health assessment pilots for looked after children has had with the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

Nadhim Zahawi: The consortium delivering the looked-after children mental health assessment pilots has communicated with the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists about the setting up of the pilots. They will draw on the expertise of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists during the course of the pilots.

Members: Correspondence

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when his Department plans to respond to the letter to the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children and Families of 19 November 2018 on his speech to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Speech and Language Difficulties on 23 October 2018.

Nadhim Zahawi: A response is being drafted and will be issued shortly.

Schools: Air Pollution

Hugh Gaffney: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to improve air quality outside schools.

Nick Gibb: ​Outdoor air quality is a responsibility of local authorities. Where there are concerns about air quality, a local authority must prepare an air quality action plan. The Department has recently published guidance (Building Bulletin 101) on achieving good indoor air quality in new and refurbished schools.

Children: Day Care

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reasons he has withdrawn his Department's myth-busting guide for local authorities on their obligations on children's care; and what plans he has to issue a revised guide.

Nadhim Zahawi: ​The Children’s Social Care myth busting guide was intended to bring clarity to some parts of guidance that had been raised with the department. However, the points raised by Article 39 suggest that the guide did not achieve that. Rather than divert time and resources to litigation we decided to withdraw the guide in its present form pending a full reconsideration of its contents.

Social Services: Romford

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the financial sustainability of children's services in Romford.

Nadhim Zahawi: Funding for children’s services is made available through the Local Government Finance Settlement. We are in the final year of a multi-year settlement deal – worth over £200 billion in the 5 years to 2020. Core spending power increased from £45.1 billion in 2018-19 to £46.4 billion in 2019-20.At the Autumn Budget 2018, the government made £410 million available to local authorities, in 2019-20, for adult and children's social care. The government also announced £84 million in targeted, evidence-based interventions which will transform services to reduce demand, saving money for local authorities but most importantly, improving the quality of services for our most vulnerable children.The government will continue to work closely with the sector to consider long-term children’s services funding as part of the Spending Review.

Schools: Homophobia

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of homophobic abuse of pupils in schools.

Nick Gibb: Holding answer received on 01 April 2019



The Department’s most recent figures on the levels of homophobic bullying in schools come from our omnibus surveys of school staff and pupils, parents and carers. The school snapshot survey 2016/17 interviewed senior leaders and teachers, and showed that 14% of those interviewed had seen homophobic or biphobic bullying either sometimes or often in the previous 12 months. This publication can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-snapshot-survey-winter-2017.This is similar to the results from the teacher voice omnibus 2015/16, which showed that 13% had seen homophobic or biphobic bullying sometimes. The publication can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teacher-voice-omnibus-november-2016-survey-dfe-questions.In the pupil and parent or carer omnibus survey 2016/17, 10% of pupils reported that they had been bullied in the past year because they are, or someone says they are, gay, lesbian or bisexual; 4% had been bullied daily, weekly, or monthly. The same survey conducted in 2017/18 shows a similar pattern with 13% of pupils reported that they had been bullied in the past year because they are, or someone says they are, gay, lesbian or bisexual; 6% had been bullied daily, weekly, or monthly. The publication can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupils-and-their-parents-or-carers-omnibus-wave-1-survey.The Government Equalities Office is providing £4 million of funding, from September 2016 to March 2020, to help schools prevent and respond to homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying. In November 2018 the Department also published ‘Respectful School Communities’, available at https://educateagainsthate.com/school-leaders/?filter=guidance-and-training-school-leader, which is a self-review and signposting tool to support schools to develop a whole-school approach which promotes respect and discipline. This can combat bullying, harassment and prejudice of any kind. The Department is also making relationships education compulsory in all primary schools, relationships and sex education compulsory in all secondary schools and health education compulsory in all state-funded schools. This will address bullying of all kinds, with a focus on supporting pupils to develop positive respectful relationships, understanding the impact of harmful stereotypes and developing pupil wellbeing.

Schools: Crimes of Violence

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many violent incidents directed at teachers at schools there were in each of the last five academic years.

Nick Gibb: Holding answer received on 01 April 2019



The information requested is not held centrally.

Disability: Children

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the upcoming Comprehensive Spending Review will prioritise funding services for disabled children and implement the Disabled Children's Partnership's proposal for an early intervention and family resilience scheme.

Nadhim Zahawi: Long-term funding for local government services, including children’s services, will be considered at this year’s Spending Review. My right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced that - assuming a Brexit deal is agreed over the next few weeks – he will launch the Spending Review (from 2020-21 to 2022-23) before the summer recess, to conclude alongside Budget in the autumn. The department has already begun work to be well prepared.The government is committed to ensuring all disabled children and their families lead safe, fulfilling lives, and appreciates the ongoing work of the Disabled Children’s Partnership in this respect.‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ sets out how local authorities should provide effective, evidence-based services to protect and promote the welfare of children, including disabled children. The guidance was updated on 04 July 2018 and states that it is better to provide services addressing needs early, rather than reacting later. The statutory duty to provide short breaks, introduced in 2011, falls on local authorities.

Universities: Scholarships

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many university scholarships for the full value of tuition fees were awarded in the last two years in each constituent part of the UK.

Chris Skidmore: The information requested is not held centrally.

Students: Housing

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps is his Department taking to increase student accommodation on campus for universities located in rural areas.

Chris Skidmore: Higher education providers are autonomous bodies, independent from government; government plays no direct role in the provision of student residential accommodation. Each institution will be best placed to identify the needs of their particular student body.The Unistats website provides information about all university courses and includes links to individual websites with details of the student accommodation available at a higher education provider.I recently called on rogue private landlords to stop exploiting students and face justice when they are failing tenants – especially when they leave students living in squalid conditions. New milestone regulations came into force on 20 March, which give students and renters across the country greater protections and rights if there are serious defects in accommodation.

Children: Carers

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance his Department provides to schools to help them identify young carers so that appropriate support with their education can be provided.

Nadhim Zahawi: ​The government is committed to supporting the identification of young carers so that they are properly safeguarded from excessive or inappropriate caring responsibilities, and supported to achieve their full potential. We know that consistent identification of young carers remains challenging which is why we are funding Carer’s Trust, to carry out a review and disseminate best practice in the identification of young carers – this commitment was set out in the Carers Action Plan 2018-20. The Children in Need review is also identifying how to spread best practice on raising educational outcomes of children in need, including those young carers assessed as being in need.

Children: Carers

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that local authorities meet their statutory duties to provide transition assessments to young carers.

Nadhim Zahawi: ​​There is no statutory duty to carry out a transition assessment for a young carer. However in ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018’, we are clear that known transition points for all children in need, including young carers, should be planned for in advance and where children are likely to transition between child and adult service. The guidance is available here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/working-together-to-safeguard-children--2. Ofsted judges children services on how well they meet their statutory duties, and the Department for Education will intervene to improve services, should Ofsted judge them to be inadequate.

Care Leavers

Michael Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Government plans to extend data collection for care leavers aged 22-25 under its staying put policy.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Staying Put duty requires local authorities to support young people to continue living with their former foster carers up to age 21, where both parties want this. The government does not therefore collect Staying Put related data for care leavers aged 22-25 years.

Apprentices: Taxation

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the (a) terms of reference and (b) scope is of his Department's review of the Apprenticeship Levy.

Anne Milton: ​In the Autumn Statement last year, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced that the government would work with employers and providers on the use of the apprenticeship levy after 2020.We have been looking at how organisations have responded to the introduction of the levy and associated reforms as well as how we can help develop future demand for, and provision of, apprenticeships. We have also been exploring the impact of the levy across different sectors and regions and for different types of apprentices as well as the contribution of apprenticeships to the wider skills landscape.Over the past few months, we have used a number of channels, including a survey and regional roundtables across England, to work with a range of different employers, providers and representative organisations. We will continue to listen to the views of employers and providers in the run-up to the Spending Review.

Pupils: Food

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the level of in-school hunger among children in England.

Nadhim Zahawi: The government supports the provision of nutritious food in schools, which ensures pupils are well nourished, develop healthy eating habits and can concentrate and learn. Under the benefits based criteria, around 1.1 million of the most disadvantaged children are eligible for and claiming free school meals – saving families around £400 per year. Benefits based free meals were extended to disadvantaged further education students in September 2014. A further 1.5 million infants receive a free nutritious meal under the Universal Infant Free School Meals scheme. We are also investing up to £26 million to the National Schools Breakfast Programme. This money will kick start or improve breakfast clubs in over 1,700 schools and target the most disadvantaged areas of the country, including Opportunity Areas.

Free Schools: Admissions

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many new school places his Department estimates will be created by the free schools programme in the (a) 2018-19, (b) 2019-20 and (c) 2020-21 academic years.

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of the number of new school places created by the free schools programme in the (a) 2018-19, (b) 2019-20 and (c) 2020-21 academic year, in each (i) region and (ii) local authority in England.

Nadhim Zahawi: The department is committed to a free schools programme that aims to deliver choice, innovation and higher standards for parents. In 2018-19, we have opened 54 free schools, creating over 40,000 new school places, with a further 4 forecast to open before the end of the academic year. In total, there are 443 free schools open across the country, which will provide over 250,000 places when at capacity. Information on all open free schools, including their location and self-reported capacity figures, can be found at: https://get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/. In addition to this, the department has approved a further 263 free school applications and is working with proposers to identify suitable opening dates. The department is looking to announce the next wave of free school openers in September. The department publishes a list of all approved free school applications, including the local authority and region in which they are located. This is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/free-schools-successful-applications.

Schools: Admissions

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many new school places his Department estimates will be created by all centrally funded school places programmes in the (a) 2018-19, (b) 2019-20 and (c) 2020-21 academic years.

Nick Gibb: The Government has committed £7 billion of funding for school places between 2015 and 2021, on top of investment in the free schools programme. The Government is on track to deliver an additional one million school places this decade, the largest increase in school capacity for at least two generations.The Department collects pupil forecasts, existing school capacities, and plans to deliver additional school places from each local authority via the annual school capacity survey. This is combined with information on centrally funded projects to add places, such as new free schools.The latest available estimates on the number of new school places created by centrally funded school places programme are 23,817 places in 2018/19, 23,775 places in 2019/20, and 20,447 places in 2020/21. School capacity statistics publications are available here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-capacity-academic-year-2016-to-2017. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/school-capacity-academic-year-2017-to-2018.

Care Leavers and Children in Care: Supported Housing

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many looked after children and care leavers aged 16-18 years old have been living in supported accommodation outside of their local authority area in each of the last five years, by local authority.

Nadhim Zahawi: The number of looked-after children in supported accommodation outside of the local authority area since 2014 for each local authority is shown in the attached table. Supported accommodation has been taken to mean independent living (with or without formalised support) and semi-independent living accommodation not subject to children’s homes regulations.This information is not available for care leavers as the location of a care leaver’s accommodation is not held centrally.



Looked_after_children_in_supported_accomodation
(Excel SpreadSheet, 97 KB)

Care Leavers and Children in Care: Supported Housing

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many looked after children and care leavers aged 16 to 18 years old were living independently in supported accommodation or otherwise in each of the last 10 years by local authority.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many looked after children and care leavers aged 16 to 18 years old were living in supported or semi-supported accommodation in each of the last 10 years, by local authority.

Nadhim Zahawi: ​​The number of looked-after children and the number of care leavers in supported or semi-supported accommodation including independent living (with or without formalised support) since 2009 for each local authority is shown in the attached table. Information on 17 to 18-year-old care leavers is provided for 2016 onwards. Information for earlier years is not held centrally. It is not possible to distinguish between independent and supported placements/accommodation and these have been combined in the table. ​



Looked_after_children_and_care_leavers
(Excel SpreadSheet, 103.5 KB)

Ministry of Justice

Ministry of Justice: Staff

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people working on developing the Future IT Sourcing Programme are (a) contingent labour, (b) supplier resource and (c) civil servants.

Edward Argar: The Technology Transformation Programme, formerly known as Future IT Sourcing Programme, closed in November 2018 and thus has no staff attached to it. The programme delivered updated hardware and software to approximately 40,000 users within the MoJ.

Ministry of Justice: Staff

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people working on developing HM Courts & Tribunals Service Reform Re-provisioning are (a) contingent labour, (b) supplier resource and (c) civil servants.

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people working on developing HM Courts & Tribunals Service Reform are (a) contingent labour, (b) supplier resource and (c) civil servants.

Edward Argar: As at 27th March 2019 there are (a) 33 contingent labour, (b) supplier resource we cannot provide a response to this because our Suppliers provide services in a number of ways and as we are contracting for outcomes, the Supplier is responsible for assessing how they resource up to deliver this and (c) 356 civil servants currently working on developing HM Courts & Tribunals Service Reform. There is no allocation of workforce specific to Reform Re-provisioning unless by Re-provisioning the reference is to the Reform Programme as a whole in which case the above answers apply.

Drugs: Rehabilitation

Ben Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Drug Rehabilitation Requirements have been granted by courts in England in each of the last two years for which figures are available.

Edward Argar: The table below shows the number of Drug Rehabilitation Requirements (DRRs) commenced under community orders and suspended sentence orders in England and Wales in 2016 and 2017. There is no available published data with a separation of figures for the two countries. YearNumber of DRRs commenced 2016 9,6982017 8,719 We are working with the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England and Public Health England on a protocol to support the greater use of community sentences with treatment requirements in courts, including DRRs. The Community Sentence Treatment Requirement (CSTR) protocol sets out what is expected from all relevant agencies to ensure improved access to treatment for offenders who need it. It focuses on reducing reoffending by addressing the health needs of offenders that may be contributing to their offending behaviour. The protocol is operating across five courts within England (as health is devolved in Wales). These sites are Milton Keynes, Northampton, Birmingham, Sefton and Plymouth. The NHS Long Term Plan, published in January 2019 includes a commitment by NHS England to build on these pilots. Decisions on how the use of the protocol could be extended will be made in due course, based on the evaluation of the test bed sites.

Speech Therapy: Codes of Pratice

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what speech and language therapy representation there is on the group working on revision of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 Code of Practice.

Edward Argar: The Review Working Group is made up of professionals with expertise on mental capacity from across Government, the health, social care, legal and charity sectors. While there is no specialist expertise on speech and language therapy within the group, the Review has received responses from the profession as part of a Call for Evidence. These views are being fully considered as we begin to update the Code of Practice. There will be further opportunities for all those with an interest in the Code of Practice to provide feedback when we consult on the updated Code of Practice.

Legal Aid Scheme: Complaints

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many complaints the Legal Aid Agency has received in each of the last five years.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times in each of the last five years the Legal Aid Agency has not met its target of processing 85 per cent of applications for civil legal aid in 20 working days.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in what proportion of applications for housing-related Legal Aid the Legal Aid Agency has not met its processing target of 20 working days in each of the last five years.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in what proportion of applications for Legal Aid in discrimination cases the Legal Aid Agency has not met its processing target of 20 working days in each of the last five years.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of legal aid applications in discrimination cases were referred to the Exceptional and Complex Case Team, in the most recent period for which data is available.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of legal aid applications in housing cases were successful in each of the last five years.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of legal aid applications in discrimination cases were successful in each of the last five years.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many applications for legal aid in housing related cases have been unsuccessful in each of the last five years.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many applications for legal aid in cases involving discrimination have been unsuccessful in each of the last five years.

Lucy Frazer: 236582: The Legal Aid Agency’s (LAA) complaints procedure is published at https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/legal-aid-agency/about/complaints-procedure. Complaints may be made by an applicant for funding, their legal representative, their MP, or anyone else involved in the case. Complaints are counted separately as they pass through the stages of the process. Data for the most recent five completed financial years is shown below. Financial YearNumber responded to2013/143,8872014/152,7852015/163,4462016/173,7272017/183,234236585,236586 & 236587: The Legal Aid Agency measures and monitors its performance via a number of key performance indicators and corporate targets. For the processing of civil legal aid applications, this target has changed within the last five years. It is therefore not possible to answer these questions in precisely the format requested. The LAA remained within the target for each reporting month between April 2014 and December 2018. Details of how these targets changed within the requested time period, and a breakdown by the categories of law enquired about, are included within the table below. Financial yearTarget - % within working daysProportion out of target - HousingProportion out of target - DiscriminationAnnual performance across all civil legal aid applications2014-1585%7%0%Target met2015-1685%8%25%Target met2016-1785%4%17%Target met2017-1890%4%23%Target met2018-19*80%13%56%Target met*(to Dec 2018) The target for 2018-19 (onwards) also includes the amount of time taken by providers, as well as LAA caseworkers, thus referring to an “end-to-end” process. This is reflected in the figures for this financial year shown above. Previous targets referred to LAA caseworker time-taken only. 236588: the LAA’s published statistics are separated into quarters for each financial year. The most recent period available is July-September 2018. During that time, four applications for a legal aid certificate in the Discrimination category of law were received. Of those, one application was referred to the Exceptional and Complex Case Team for a determination. 236589, 236590, 236591, 236592: Case volumes for the LAA are published on a quarterly basis at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/legal-aid-statistics. These show the number of matters started at the ‘Legal Help’ stage, where the application process is devolved to the provider, and applications and grants for a legal aid certificate, where this is determined by the LAA. Therefore it is not possible to comment on the grant rate of Legal Help matters as only successful applications are referred to us.Table 6.1 of the aforesaid published statistics shows the number of applications for a legal aid certificate which were made in each period, and of those the volume which were granted. Please note that an application may not proceed to being granted for a variety of reasons, for example being withdrawn, abandoned, rejected for administrative reasons, or refused where the relevant funding criteria were not met. Table 5.1 of the published statistics show the number of matters opened at the Legal Help level by category of law during the period enquired about.

Legal Aid Scheme: Complaints

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many complaints relating to housing cases the Legal Aid Agency has received in each of the last five years.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many complaints relating to discrimination cases the Legal Aid Agency has received in each of the last five years.

Lucy Frazer: These questions could only be answered at disproportionate cost.

Department for International Trade

Trade Agreements: Commonwealth

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many countries in the Commonwealth have not agreed a trade deal with the UK for when the UK leaves the EU.

George Hollingbery: The UK enjoys excellent trading relationships with our Commonwealth partners and the Government is committed to strengthening these further. As we leave the EU, the Government is seeking continuity for our existing EU trade arrangements, including those with Commonwealth countries. The best way to provide continuity and stability of these agreements is to have a deal with the European Union so that the UK can remain covered by all existing trade agreements during the Implementation Period. Nevertheless, the Government is working to have bilateral agreements in place ready for when we need them, whether that is in the event of no deal, or after the proposed implementation period. The UK has signed trade agreement continuity agreements with Commonwealth countries in the Caribbean, Pacific and Eastern and Southern Africa. The list of countries is available on Gov.uk (LINK). The Government has also published a list of those agreements that both may and will not be in place by 12 April 2019 in order that businesses and individuals ensure that they are prepared for every eventuality. (LINK) This advice will be updated regularly. Many discussions with other Commonwealth countries are at an advanced stage. As with all such discussions, they tend to go down to the wire, and we would expect nothing less from these agreements. We will implement a UK trade preferences scheme for developing countries, including those in the Commonwealth, which will provide the same level of access as the current EU trade preference scheme. This includes maintaining duty-free, quota-free access for the world’s least developed countries. Under the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement, the UK will be free to negotiate, sign and ratify new trade agreements during the time-limited implementation period, and to bring them into force from January 2021. We have completed public consultations on possible UK trade agreements with Australia and New Zealand, and potential accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which includes six members of the Commonwealth. In addition, we are building stronger relationships with large economies, such India, through a series of Joint Trade Reviews (JTRs).

Department for International Trade: Staff

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to Answer of 8 March 2019 to Question 227160, how many staff have been employed by his Department in each month since 31 January 2019.

George Hollingbery: The Department for International Trade (DIT) workforce includes employees (including those working overseas and UK Export Finance), contractors and those on loan from other government departments or seconded from organisations external to the Civil Service. Pursuant to the answer provided on 8 March 2019 to question 227160, the total workforce employed by DIT in each month since 31 January 2019 is set out in the table below. Month endingTotal workforce31/01/20193,99028/02/20194,043 Data for March 2019 will be available after 5 April 2019.

Furs: Imports

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what plans his Department has for imposing a ban on the importation of fur products.

George Hollingbery: The ban on cat and dog fur as introduced by EU Regulation No 1523/2007 will be rolled over as part of the Withdrawal Act.The Government has no plans to remove this ban once we leave the EU.

Trade Promotion: Brunei

Christine Jardine: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether the UK Trade Envoy to Brunei made representations to the Government of Brunei on the whipping and stoning to death of LGBT+ people during his visit to that country in November 2018.

Graham Stuart: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 02 April 2019.The correct answer should have been:

The Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Brunei, Paul Scully, has the responsibility to promote trade and investment links between our two countries. On his first visit he was hosted by the Minister of Finance and Economy and focused on opportunities in: oil and gas; financial services; and technical / professional education. Human rights issues are the responsibility of the FCO. The Minister of State for Asia and the Pacific raised UK concerns about hudud punishments during a visit to Brunei Darussalam in August 2018. More recently he raised these issues on Friday 29 March in a letter to the Deputy Foreign Minister. Additionally, the British High Commission in Bandar Seri Begawan regularly discusses the introduction of the Sharia Penal Code with the Government of Brunei.The Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Brunei, Paul Scully, did not make representations to the Government of Brunei on their internal laws when he visited in 2018 to promote the trade links between our countries.This was the Trade Envoy’s first visit to Brunei in this capacity and as such was introduced to key stakeholders. He was hosted by the Minister of Finance and Economy and focused on opportunities in: oil and gas; financial services; and technical / professional education. Human rights issues are the responsibility of the FCO. The Minister of State for Asia and the Pacific raised UK concerns about hudud punishments during a visit to Brunei Darussalam in August 2018. More recently he raised these issues on Friday 29 March in a letter to the Deputy Foreign Minister. Additionally, the British High Commission in Bandar Seri Begawan regularly discusses the introduction of the Sharia Penal Code with the Government of Brunei.

Graham Stuart: The Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Brunei, Paul Scully, has the responsibility to promote trade and investment links between our two countries. On his first visit he was hosted by the Minister of Finance and Economy and focused on opportunities in: oil and gas; financial services; and technical / professional education. Human rights issues are the responsibility of the FCO. The Minister of State for Asia and the Pacific raised UK concerns about hudud punishments during a visit to Brunei Darussalam in August 2018. More recently he raised these issues on Friday 29 March in a letter to the Deputy Foreign Minister. Additionally, the British High Commission in Bandar Seri Begawan regularly discusses the introduction of the Sharia Penal Code with the Government of Brunei.The Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Brunei, Paul Scully, did not make representations to the Government of Brunei on their internal laws when he visited in 2018 to promote the trade links between our countries.This was the Trade Envoy’s first visit to Brunei in this capacity and as such was introduced to key stakeholders. He was hosted by the Minister of Finance and Economy and focused on opportunities in: oil and gas; financial services; and technical / professional education. Human rights issues are the responsibility of the FCO. The Minister of State for Asia and the Pacific raised UK concerns about hudud punishments during a visit to Brunei Darussalam in August 2018. More recently he raised these issues on Friday 29 March in a letter to the Deputy Foreign Minister. Additionally, the British High Commission in Bandar Seri Begawan regularly discusses the introduction of the Sharia Penal Code with the Government of Brunei.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

European Regional Development Fund

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what Department plans he has to replicate the infrastructure investment priorities of the European Regional Development Fund once the UK leaves the EU structural funds.

Jake Berry: The Government will create the UK Shared Prosperity Fund once we have left the European Union. The UK Shared Prosperity Fund will strengthen the foundations of productivity as set out in our modern Industrial Strategy to support people to benefit from economic prosperity. This new Fund will ensure that investments are targeted effectively to align with the challenges faced by places, creating a fresh opportunity to focus investment according to our own priorities. We are continuing to work on the design and priorities and we will consult widely on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. This will give all interested parties the chance to contribute their views to Government. Final decisions are due to be made during the Spending Review.

Private Rented Housing: Electrical Safety

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress is being made on introducing mandatory electrical safety checks in the private rented sector.

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what consultation is being undertaken with consumer groups on ensuring tenant awareness of forthcoming electrical safety checks in the private rented sector.

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what consultation his Department has undertaken with local government on enforcement powers for new regulations for mandatory electrical safety checks in the private rented sector.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: We are working to bring into force regulations on mandatory electrical safety checks in the private rented sector as soon as possible, subject to parliamentary approval and timetable. As outlined in the Government response to the consultation on Electrical Safety in the Private Rented Sector, published on 29 January 2019, we will work with industry to produce guidance for landlords setting out the skills and qualifications relevant to determining competence of those carrying out electrical inspections. We intend to work with local authorities in England as we develop the range of sanctions available to them for non-compliance.We regularly consult with stakeholder groups including tenants, and in July 2018, we updated our ‘How to’ guides, a series of checklists for renting in England which must be provided to tenants at the outset of all new tenancies. Further consultation with tenant groups will take place when the Electrical Safety Regulations come into force to raise tenant awareness about the changes and the ‘How to’ guides will be updated accordingly.

Private Rented Housing: Safety

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of preventing landlords and letting agents from letting a property if that property does not have a gas safety certificate.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: All landlords must provide a tenant with a gas safety certification at the start of the tenancy and within 28 days of each annual gas safety check, if there is a gas installation. Landlords of tenants on assured shorthold tenancies (which started or were renewed after 1 October 2015) cannot serve an eviction notice under section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 if the gas safety certificate has not been provided.

Housing: Multiple Occupation

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that houses in multiple occupancy meet the standards prescribed under the Housing Act 2004.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The Government has given local authorities strong powers to drive up standards in houses in multiple occupation (HMOs). These include mandatory, additional and selective licensing as well as civil penalties of up to £30,000, rent repayment orders and banning orders for those landlords who refuse to comply with the law.We have also recently extended mandatory licensing of HMOs. Mandatory licensing is recognised to have improved safety and property standards in HMOs, the extension will bring an additional 170,000 properties within scope of mandatory licensing.In addition, the Government is currently refreshing guidance for local authorities in order to help them better use these powers. Along with providing training sessions across the county, the updated guidance will ensure local authorities are aware of the extent of powers they have and how they can use them to maximum effect in all private rented sector properties, including HMOs.

UK Shared Prosperity Fund

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to his Written Statement of 24 July 2018, Official Report HCWS927, when the Government plans to publish its consultation on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

Jake Berry: The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government reaffirmed to the House, Column 719 on 4 March 2019, that the government will consult widely on the design and priorities of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and we invite all interested parties to contribute their views.

Grenfell Tower: Fires

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many people who were made homeless by the Grenfell Tower fire have not been found permanent accommodation.

Kit Malthouse: There are a total of 202 households from Grenfell Tower and Walk that were made homeless and require rehousing by the Council Of these 202 households, there are 19 households that have not yet been rehoused in permanent accommodation: 5 households are currently in emergency accommodation (2 in hotels and 3 in serviced apartments) and 14 households are in temporary accommodation Of these 19 households, 13 households have accepted an offer of permanent accommodation. We expect the Council to do whatever is necessary to ensure these households can move and settle into their permanent homes as swiftly as possible, but to do so sensitively and taking into account individual households' specific needs The remaining 6 households have not yet accepted an offer of permanent accommodation. The Council reports that a suitable property that meets their needs has been reserved for each household. We continue to provide support to the Council to ensure every survivor is able to move into a home that meets their needs as soon as possible.

Buildings: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 28 March 2019 to Question 236427 on Buildings: Insulation, what information his Department holds on instances where the core of Aluminium Composite Material cladding was referred to as (a) filler and (b) filler material before 14 June 2017.

Kit Malthouse: The Building Control Alliance issued guidance to building control bodies in June 2015, which set out that the provisions in paragraph 12. 7 of Volume 2 of Approved Document B for materials to be of limited combustibility should be considered to apply to all elements of the cladding system.

Buildings: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 28 March 2019 to Question 236427, for what reasons his Department did not issue a frequently asked question on its planning portal to clarify that filler material in the guidance Fire safety: Approved Document B2 12.7 includes the core of Aluminium Composite Material cladding, as agreed by officials at the Centre for Window and Cladding Technology Fire Group meeting of 2 July 2014.

Kit Malthouse: This is a matter for the Grenfell Tower Inquiry which will be looking specifically at recommendations received from experts, professionals and trade bodies, and what steps were taken by Central Government in response to these recommendations.

Ministry of Defence

Armed Forces: Domestic Abuse

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service personnel have been suspended or reprimanded as a result of incidents and alleged incidents of domestic abuse in each year for which information is available.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Suspension in the Armed Forces is not a form of punishment. It tends to be related to a role or employment – for example, if an incident occurred as a result of a breach of codes of practice, then an individual may be suspended from that role while the incident is investigated. Domestic abuse is a very important issue and we treat allegations of domestic abuse very seriously. In July 2018, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) launched its first strategy to tackle domestic abuse within the Armed Forces and defence civilian communities. The strategy builds on existing work by the Armed Forces in this area, such as providing specialist training to welfare staff, and included the launch of a campaign to raise awareness of the issue. The MOD is a member of the cross-Government Violence against Women and Girls working group. The estimated numbers of Service personnel recorded on the Joint Personnel Administration system (JPA) with a reporting category titled ‘Domestic Abuse’ and awarded a sanction as a result of Major Administrative Action (MAA) are shown in the table below: Date of SanctionMAA with Sanction Awarded2015152016252017302018302019 (to date)~Source: JPA Discipline (single Service estimates) Note: figures are rounded to the nearest 5. “~” indicates a figure less than 5.

NATO Countries: Defence

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent steps he has taken to encourage NATO allies to meet the pledge to spend 2 per cent of GDP on defence.

Gavin Williamson: At the 2014 NATO Wales Summit, all Allies signed the Defence Investment Pledge (DIP) to spend 2% of GDP on defence and 20% of that on major equipment by 2024. The UK fully supports the DIP and has been clear on the need for increased defence spending in the Alliance to meet an evolving and complex security environment. The UK welcomed the Secretary General's recent announcement that non-US Allies will spend an extra $100 billion on defence over 2016-2020, and $350 billion by 2024. However, the UK remains clear that this upward trend must continue and regularly engages with Allies at all levels on this. For example, I spoke on the issue of burden sharing at the February NATO Defence Ministerial, where I welcomed progress already made and urged Allies to do more to meet their commitments.

Defence

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the value of partnering with the French Government in the development of the UK's military capability.

Mark Lancaster: As set out in the 2015 Strategic Defence and Security Review, the UK and France have the full range of military capabilities and the political will to protect our interests globally. We have built an exceptionally close defence and security relationship with France through the Lancaster House Treaty of 2010. Our Armed Forces routinely work together and with the US in NATO, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the timetable is for the remaining nine Reaper drones to be decommissioned ahead of the purchase of sixteen Protector drones from the United States.

Stuart Andrew: The out of service date for the Reaper fleet will align with Protector's entry into service by the middle of the next decade to ensure a seamless transition between the two fleets.

Royal Fleet Auxiliary: Procurement

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to recent naval incursions by Spanish vessels into UK territorial waters around Gibraltar, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of awarding the Fleet Solid Support Ship contract to a Spanish company.

Stuart Andrew: The National Shipbuilding Strategy was clear that the Fleet Solid Support Ships will be subject to international competition. It makes no assumptions about where the ships will be built.The competition that is now under way to procure the Fleet Solid Support Ships will be assessed fairly and in accordance with UK public procurement law. I am very pleased that a UK consortium is among the bidders.

Department for Work and Pensions

Social Security Benefits

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants who applied for (a) attendance allowance, (b) employment support allowance and (c) universal credit have died within six months of having those applications rejected.

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants of (a) attendance allowance, (b) employment support allowance and (c) universal credit have died after registering those claims but prior to her Department making a decision on those claims; and how many of those claimants applied for those social security benefits under (i) normal and (ii) special rules.

Justin Tomlinson: The Department holds data across a number of data sets which would require analysis and quality assurance and would be a substantial piece of work to bring together to answer these questions; therefore the information requested could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Employment and Support Allowance: Terminal Illnesses

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employment support allowance claimants who have had their application rejected under normal rules have subsequently reapplied for that social security benefit under the special rules for terminal illness process; and what medical conditions those claimants had.

Justin Tomlinson: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Universal Credit: Terminal Illnesses

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many universal credit claimants who have had their application rejected under normal rules have subsequently reapplied for that social security benefit under the special rules for terminal illness process; and what medical conditions those claimants had.

Justin Tomlinson: The special rules applying to people who are terminally ill were first introduced in 1990 for Attendance Allowance following a recommendation from the Social Security Advisory Committee. The rules are common to a range of benefits and are also used elsewhere, for example the Early Access to Financial Assistance Scheme, administered by the Pension Protection Fund. The design of Universal Credit for terminally ill claimants is based on this well tested process. This is not a separate entitlement; this is part of the Universal Credit process, and as such, the information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost. The Department is currently looking into what analytical information it can publish.

Attendance Allowance: Terminal Illnesses

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many attendance allowance claimants who have had their application rejected under normal rules have subsequently reapplied for that social security benefit under the special rules for terminal illness process; and what medical conditions those claimants had.

Justin Tomlinson: The information requested is not available. When a decision is made not to award Attendance Allowance, the claim is closed. Any further application would be treated as a new claim and will be considered on the merits of the information provided.

Personal Independence Payment: Terminal Illnesses

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 1 Feb 2019 to Question 209781 on Personal Independence Payment, how many personal independence payments claimants died within six months of their claim being disallowed at initial decision under normal rules.

Justin Tomlinson: Over 3.8 million applications to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) were made between April 2013 and 31st July 2018. Of these, 10,380 PIP claimants died within six months of their claim being disallowed at initial decision under normal rules. There is no evidence in this data to suggest someone’s reason for claiming PIP was the cause of their death and it would be misleading to suggest otherwise. People claim PIP for various reasons, the majority of which are non-life threatening. Notes:These figures include claims cleared under normal rules as recorded at the point of disallowance.These figures include claimants whose initial claim was disallowed after assessment, for failing to attend assessment, for failing to return the PIP2 form or for failing lay rules. This does not take into account any mandatory reconsideration or appeal action so some of these claimants may have subsequently been awarded PIP.The point of initial decision on the application to PIP is taken as the day the DWP decision maker made a decision and recorded it on the PIP computer system.This data includes both new claims and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) reassessment claims.This is unpublished data from the PIP computer system’s (PIP CS) management information. It should be used with caution and it may be subject to future revision.Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 and “six months” has been measured in months for example, 5th March to the 5th April is one month.Figures cover claims made up to and including 31st July 2018 and claimant deaths up to and including 31st January 2019.GB only. Under the Social Security (Notification of Deaths) Regulations 2012 and s125 of Social Security Administration Act 1992 date of death is provided to the Department for all registered deaths. Additionally, next of kin also provide information on the date of death of an individual and this information is used appropriately in the administration of Departmental benefits.

Personal Independence Payment: Terminal Illnesses

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 1 Feb 2019 to Question 209781 on Personal Independence Payment, what the average length of time was between a claimant receiving an award under special rules for terminal illness and initially registering that claim under normal rules.

Justin Tomlinson: The median time between registration and clearance for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claims that were initially registered under Normal Rules but were awarded under Special Rules for Terminal Illness is 34 working days for all claims cleared between April 2013 to the end of January 2019. For reference, the clearance time from the point a claim changes from Normal Rules to Special Rules for Terminal Illness to clearance under Special Rules for Terminal Illness is 3 working days. Source: PIP ADS Notes:Figures have been rounded to the nearest working day, i.e. Monday to Friday (including bank holidays).This data includes both new claims and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) reassessment claims.The median time is the middle value if you were to order all the times within the distribution from lowest value to highest value. The median is presented here instead of the mean because the mean can be unduly affected by outlying cases (e.g. cases were the person has been hard to reach due to being in prison, hospital, failed to attend the assessment on numerous occasions etc.)The 'Registration to DWP decision (end to end)' clearance time is measured as the average time between the date of registration of the claim and the date of the DWP decision to either award or disallow the claim. It does not include claims that were withdrawn by the claimant or claims that were disallowed by DWP pre-referral to the Assessment Providers (e.g. for failure to meet basic eligibility criteria).This is unpublished data. It should be used with caution and it may be subject to future revision.Figures are for Great Britain only.Figures are correct as at 31st January 2019.

Children: Maintenance

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure that arrears are not discarded without the permission of the parent to whom the arrears are owed when cases are migrated from the Child Support Agency to the Child Maintenance Service.

Justin Tomlinson: Under the Compliance and Arrears strategy we are writing to clients with CSA debt above certain thresholds to ask if they want us to try to collect their arrears. These thresholds provide a reasonable cut off point to ensure that we do not pursue cases at disproportionate cost to the taxpayer. They are: over £500 and the case is less than 10 years old, and over £1,000 and the case 10 years old or over. If correspondence is returned as the client is not known at the address held, the Service will attempt to trace a current address in order to reissue the letter. If a client confirms they want the Service to attempt collection, the case is checked to ensure the debt balance is accurate before arrears are transferred from the CSA IT system to the CMS one.

Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to ensure the use of previous tribunal decisions in the event of (a) new assessments or (b) re-assessments.

Justin Tomlinson: Where an award which is based on a tribunal’s decision is being reviewed, that decision is considered as evidence alongside any new evidence, for example a HCP report and the claimant’s own evidence. Its relevance and the weight given to it by a decision maker will depend on the date of the decision and whether the claimant’s circumstances have changed in the meantime.

Children: Maintenance

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what sanctions her Department have put in place under the Child Maintenance Service for receiving parents who do not keep the service informed of changes in circumstance that result in a child being no longer eligible for maintenance.

Justin Tomlinson: Both paying and receiving parents have a responsibility to inform the Child Maintenance Service of any change in circumstances. There are no sanctions for receiving parents who do not report circumstances where a child is no longer eligible for maintenance. If either party reports changes that confirm a child cannot be treated as a child for the purpose of child maintenance liability, then the Service will update the maintenance calculation. This change can be retrospective, as the effective date of this decision is treated as the date the child ceased to qualify for child maintenance.

Occupational Pensions

Hugh Gaffney: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress her Department has made on the consultation into legislating for collective defined contribution pension schemes in the UK.

Guy Opperman: The Government’s consultation on Collective Defined Contribution schemes closed in January 2019. A formal Government response to the consultation, including a summary of respondents’ views, was published on Monday 18th March and a Written Ministerial Statement was laid before the House (HCWS1422). The consultation response can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/delivering-collective-defined-contribution-pension-schemes I am grateful for the comments and support received in response to the consultation, and the Department now intends to move forward with legislating to facilitate single and associated employer Collective Defined Contribution scheme provision as soon as Parliamentary time allows and detailed drafting of the proposed measures has been considered and then actioned.

Universal Credit

Martin Whitfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many times a request for a Statement of Reasons pertaining to the allocation of universal credit (limited capability to work) has not been delivered within the statutory time limit of 14 days in each of the last three years for which data are available.

Martin Whitfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many active universal credit (work capability) decisions, which have been appealed to Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service, are now subject to an order of the tribunal asking her Department to respond within 21 days.

Justin Tomlinson: The information requested is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Members: Correspondence

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she plans to respond to the letter of 10 January 2019 from the hon. Member for Glasgow Central on behalf of her constituent Mr Neil Rothnie.

Justin Tomlinson: My Noble friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Lords) replied to the hon. Member on 27 March 2019.

Pensions: Advisory Services

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the level of coordination between the Pensions Regulator and the Financial Conduct Authority in relation to defined benefit pension transfer advice.

Guy Opperman: The DWP are urging the two organisations to work much more closely together. The Pension’s Regulator and the Financial Conduct Authority carry out their functions independently. The Pension’s Regulator launched a joint protocol with Financial Conduct Authority in January 2019. The Protocol is intended to improve coordination between the Financial Conduct Authority, The Pension’s Regulator and the Pensions Advisory Service to help pension scheme trustees to ensure their members are adequately and fully informed when considering transferring their defined benefit pensions.

Food Banks: Scotland

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the Independent Food Aid Network report, published in March 2019, that found in Scotland between April 2017 and September 2018, more than double the number of food parcels were given out than previously estimated.

Justin Tomlinson: We welcome any research aimed at improving our understanding of the nature and extent of food bank use. We recognise the data limitations in this area and that is why the Department for Work and Pensions has been working with a number of food security experts, the Office for National Statistics and the Scottish Government to introduce a new set of food security questions into the Family Resources Survey (FRS) from April. In the short term we are exploring how we can build on current good practice to make it as easy as possible for food banks to identify and refer back to the local Jobcentre any customers who may, for a variety of reasons, not be receiving the full formal support to which they are entitled. The Government has committed to a strong safety-net for those who need it; we spend over £95 billion a year on welfare benefits for people of working age including a well-established system of hardship payments, benefit advances and budgeting loans as an additional safeguard for those who need it.

Personal Independence Payment: Multiple Sclerosis

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of personal independence payment applications were (a) refused and (b) withdrawn in the last 12 months.

Justin Tomlinson: The latest available data on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) clearances split by type of clearance (i.e. whether the claim was awarded, disallowed or withdrawn) for both new claims and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) reassessment claims, each month from the introduction of PIP in April 2013 to the last available data in January 2019 can be found at https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/ Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: https://sw.stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html.

Employment: Poverty

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department has taken to assess the level of in-work poverty in the UK.

Justin Tomlinson: National statistics on the percentage of working age individuals in working families in low income are set out in the annual "Households Below Average Income" publication. Figures on the percentage of working age individuals in working families in low income can be found in the link below, in table 5.11ts for relative low income, and 5.14ts for absolute low income, in the file “workingage-hbai-timeseries-1994-95-2017-18-tables.ods”. These are split into before housing costs (BHC) and after housing costs (AHC). https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/789816/hbai-2017-2018-tables-ods-files.zip

Electronic Government: Dyspraxia

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has received feedback from Dyspraxics on the accessibility of its online platforms.

Alok Sharma: Universal Credit has been designed with accessibility in mind and we are committed to providing personalised support for all claimants. The Department commissioned an independent accessibility audit of our Universal Credit online service in September 2018 and will receive the final report and accessibility statement this Summer. We continue to provide training and process improvements so that we can maintain an excellent level of accessibility. Where claimants may struggle to access the Universal Credit online system, face-to-face support in Jobcentres is available to assist them in making and accessing their claim and claimants can also make a claim via the Freephone Universal Credit helpline.

Universal Credit: Refugees

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 13 March 2019 to Question 232095 on universal credit: refugees, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the time taken to process claims for universal credit.

Alok Sharma: Additional support is in place to assist refugees in making a claim for Universal Credit: refugees who are able to provide their biometric residence permit or evidence of their refugee status can be fast tracked through the habitual residency test process; a work coach can use other methods to identify a person where someone does not have ID, including the use of biographical questions; Measures are in place to make payments through other methods where someone does not have a bank account, including post office card accounts or the Payment Exception Service, and a work coach can help people through the process of setting up a bank account where appropriate. Claimants that are required to provide evidence of their right to reside are subject to the Habitual Residence Test (HRT). The HRT contains two elements: an assessment of the legal right of residence and an assessment of factual habitual residence. We have made this process quicker for refugees by ensuring that refugees who provide documentation which confirms their legal right to reside in the UK will satisfy the HRT and that refugees are exempt from the assessment of factual habitual residence if the Home Office have granted them leave to remain in the UK with recourse to public funds. New claimants, including refugees, can apply for a Universal Credit new claim advance so they do not have to wait to receive financial support. This is an advance of up to 100% of their total expected award, which is paid back over a period of up to 12 months. In the Autumn Budget 2018, we announced that from October 2021, the payback period for these advances will be extended further, to up to 16 months. Staff also have access to information on services and support available in their local area for vulnerable claimants, including refugees.

Food Banks

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the merits of providing state-funded food banks.

Justin Tomlinson: My Department has not made such an assessment. This Government continues to spend over £95 billion a year on benefits for people of working age, providing a strong safety net for those who need it including a well-established system of hardship payments and benefit advances as an additional safeguard for those who need them. Jobcentre mangers have discretion to work with food banks in their local area; and we are exploring how to build on current good practice to make it as easy as possible for food banks to identify and refer back to the local Jobcentre any customers who may not be receiving the full formal support to which they are entitled.

Food Banks

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will publish the interim findings of her Department's study entitled Factors driving the use of food banks.

Justin Tomlinson: The Department is carrying out a literature review on the factors driving the use of food banks. There is no plan to publish an interim report. A final report will be published in due course.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Dangerous Dogs

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will ensure that dog attacks on cats are recorded by police forces when he meets with the National Police Chiefs’ Council to discuss a new approach to tackling dog attacks.

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many community protection notices were issued for dog attacks on cats in each of the last three years; and what plans his Department has to review the effectiveness of community protection notices in protecting cats from dog attacks.

David Rutley: Defra works closely with the National Police Chief’s Council and we will continue to discuss the ways in which dog attacks are recorded, including how attacks on other animals including cats are recorded. In November 2018 Defra commissioned research in collaboration with Middlesex University to look at responsible ownership of dogs. The research will consider different approaches and the effectiveness of current dog control measures, including the use of Community Protection Notices (CPNs), the data recorded in relation to dog attacks and make recommendations. The research will also seek to identify and examine the factors and situations that may cause dog attacks and how to promote responsible dog ownership. We expect to have an interim report at the beginning of September 2019 with a final report at the end of the year. We will consider the research findings before taking any decisions in relation to dog control measures. The detail on what CPNs were used for is not collected centrally but research[1] has shown that in a sample of 73 local authorities, the single biggest category for issuing a CPN (29%) to young persons was for animal related purposes and of those, most were dog related. [1] Anti-social Behaviour Powers and Young Adults – The Data, Helen Mills and Matt Ford, Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, July 2018 https://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/sites/crimeandjustice.org.uk/files/YASE%20briefing%201%2017-07-2018.pdf

Horse Racing: Animal Welfare

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the regulations governing the use of the whip in horse racing.

David Rutley: I refer the Rt. Hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme, Paul Farrelly, on 14 February 2019, PQ 219332.

Plastics: Nottinghamshire

Ben Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment the Government has made of the feasibility of banning the use of non-recyclable plastics in Nottinghamshire.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the Rt. Hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, Tom Brake, on 25 February 2019, PQ 224037.

Food: Nottinghamshire

Ben Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to support the food and beverage sector in Nottinghamshire.

David Rutley: The Government works closely with the full spectrum of food and drink businesses across the country to promote growth, jobs, productivity and exports. As elsewhere, we engage with businesses in Nottinghamshire, both directly and through trade associations, regional food groups and other businesses groups. We support them in their efforts to address economic challenges, understand and mitigate regulatory and compliance issues and prepare successfully for our departure from the EU.

Agriculture Bill 2017-19

Paul Girvan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reasons the list of agricultural products in schedule 1 part 1 of the Agriculture Bill does not include sheepmeat and pigmeat.

Paul Girvan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the proposed process is for adding products under part 1 of schedule 1 to the Agriculture Bill.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The current list of sectors in Part 1 of Schedule 1 of the Agriculture Bill applies to England and is based on the list in EU Common Market Organisation Regulation No 1308/2013, which provides the legislative framework for existing EU marketing standards. There is a power in Part 3 of Schedule 1 that will enable the Government to add sectors to that schedule via secondary legislation. The list of sectors and the regulation-making power (including the power to add sectors to the list) are reproduced for Northern Ireland at paragraphs 15 and 16 of Schedule 4 of the Bill. In England, the power to add sectors will be exercised if, following public consultation with interested stakeholders, a decision is made to introduce a new marketing standard. As agricultural policy in the UK is devolved, it is for each administration to decide its approach and what measures it should adopt. Decisions on amending the list in Schedule 4 of the Bill will fall to the Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs.

Bees: Conservation

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what funding his Department has allocated to encourage farmers to plant more wildflowers to reverse the decline of bees.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: This is a devolved matter and the below information relates to England only. Natural England estimates that over £125 million has been allocated to support the sowing of wildflowers across Environmental Stewardship and Countryside Stewardship options, on agreements put in place between 2005 and the end of 2018. This expenditure on wildflower options, such as flower-rich margins or pollen and nectar mixtures, represents only a small proportion of total expenditure on habitats for bees, which will also benefit from payments for managing existing habitat such as protected sites or hedgerows. The Government is spending £2.9 billion on agri-environment schemes in England funded through our seven year Rural Development Programme. This funding will support the provision of habitat for bees and other wildlife. In 2015, Defra introduced the ‘Wild Pollinator and Farm Wildlife Package’ to Countryside Stewardship, to make it easier for farmers to provide flower-rich margins or pollen and nectar plots on fields to support wild pollinators. The package ensures that a minimum of 3% of the farm is converted to habitat for farm wildlife including bees and other pollinators.

Marine Protected Areas

Carol Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Government's implementation, management and monitoring of marine protection areas; what assessment he has made of the potential merits of doubling the size of the area under marine protection; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only. Defra recently laid a report in Parliament setting out progress towards establishing an MPA network (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/marine-protected-areas-network-report-2012-to-2018). This report includes progress that has been made in implementing, managing and monitoring MPAs. To date, 36% of English waters are protected in MPAs. On its own, the total area of MPAs is not a good measure of the effectiveness of the network. We have published a comprehensive set of ecological network targets that we are working towards:http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/pdf/100705_ENG_v10.pdfandhttps://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/492784/mcz-update-jan-2016.pdf

Seafood: Nature Conservation

Carol Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what research his Department has commissioned on the threats of changes to the (a) temperature, (b) pH and (c) level of carbonate ions in the sea to (i) shellfish and (ii) finfish.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Department has commissioned and contributed towards a range of research on the threats of changes to temperature, pH and carbonate ions in the sea. This includes: The UK Ocean Acidification research programme (UKOA), which DEFRA contributed towards, and which investigated the threats of ocean acidification through experimental studies and modelling for several finfish and shellfish species. We commissioned the ‘Placing Ocean Acidification in a wider Fisheries Context’ (PLACID) project which has included studies on commercially important shellfish and finfish. We also commissioned a study on Impacts from Climate Change and Ocean Acidification on Fisheries and Marine Biodiversity. Most recently our contribution to the Shelf Sea Biogeochemistry programme further extends the field work of UKOA and PLACID. Further information on the research we commission is available of the Defra Science Search website. The UK Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership provides co-ordinated information on threats and research and has included specific report cards on key shellfish and finfish species, as well as ocean acidification. We also recognise the importance of global research collaboration and have recently supported the establishment of a North East Atlantic Ocean Acidification Hub to co-ordinate and share data, as well as our continued work with the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment (OSPAR) Ocean Acidification group.

Polluter Pays Principle

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has plans to introduce a polluter pays principle.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Government published clauses of the Draft Environment Bill at the end of 2018.[1] Contained in these clauses (subsection 2(d)) is the ‘polluter pays principle’. Correspondingly, the Government is intending to include the polluter pays principle in the final clauses of the forthcoming Environment Bill. [1] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/766849/draft-environment-bill-governance-principles.pdf

Sustainable Development

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to demonstrate the effect of all economic activities to help (a) consumers, (b) investors, (c) banks and (d) companies to make more sustainable choices.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Government launched the 25 Year Environment Plan in January 2018 with a key commitment to develop a comprehensive set of indicators, which collectively describes environmental change as it relates to the ten goals as set out in the Plan. In December 2018 the government published a draft indicator framework for the Environment Plan that aims to capture the wide range of impacts that economic actions have on the environment. The Government is committed to working with the Office for National Statistics to incorporate natural capital into the UK Environmental Accounts by 2020 so that the benefits of nature would be better recognised. This commitment has been reiterated in the 25 Year Environment plan. The UK accounts are being used to inform natural capital accounts and decisions by businesses and other land owning bodies. To enable consumers and businesses to make more sustainable choices we have reduced plastic waste by introducing one of the world’s strongest microbead bans, setting out plans to ban plastic straws, cotton buds and stirrers and extending the 5p plastic bag charge, and overhauling our waste system with a comprehensive Resources and Waste Strategy. The Government has launched the Year of Green Action to draw together targeted actions to make it easier for people to get involved in improving the natural world and spread the word about environmental issues. It will provide a focal point for organisations, individuals, communities and businesses to learn more about their environmental impact and take action to reduce it. On the international stage the UK is at the forefront of combatting the illegal wildlife trade. Our landmark Ivory Act put one of the world’s toughest bans on the sale of ivory into law.

Home Office

Religious Buildings: Security

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of bringing the funding for the  protection for mosques in line with that provided for the protection of synagogues via the grant administered by the Community Security Trust.

Victoria Atkins: The Jewish Community Protective Security Grant was introduced in 2015 following a series of terrorist attacks against Jews and Jewish locations across Europe and the West, including Paris, Copenhagen, Brussels and Marseilles.International terrorist propaganda, particularly by Daesh has repeatedly highlighted Jews as targets for terrorist attacks. The grant mainly funds security guarding at Jewish schools, nurseries and some synagoguesThe Places of Worship Protective Security Funding Scheme is specifically for the provision of protective security measures such as access control, fencing and lighting for places of worship that are vulnerable to hate crime attacks.The Home Secretary announced a boost in funding for the hate crime Places of Worship Protective Security Funding Scheme to £1.6 million for 2019/20. This is double the amount awarded in 2018/19. In addition, £5 million over three years has been committed to providing security training to places of worship in England and Wales.This funding marks a significant change in our funding for protective security for places of worship. We also committed to consult with communities on what more can and should be done to protect faith communities. If the threat changes or there is a sense that more money is needed, we will always look at how we should respond.

Migrant Workers: Health Services

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to ensure that the number of (a) NHS and (b) care workers recruited from (i) EEA and (ii) non-EEA countries is adequate for (A) current requirements and (B) requirements in the short term.

Caroline Nokes: In December 2018, the Government set out its proposals in “the UK’s future Skills-based Immigration System” White Paper. The White Paper proposals include a new route for skilled workers which will be open to anyone at RQF level 3 and above, irrespective of where they are applying from. This route will not be capped allowing all of those who meet our requirements to come to the UK.The White Paper also includes a transitional route for temporary workers which will be open to anyone from qualifying countries, wishing to fill positions at any skill level, for up to 12 months. We do not intend to impose a cap on the number of people wishing to use the route.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of establishing identity scanner locations to process applications for the EU settlement scheme.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many identity scanner locations (a) have been and (b) are planned to be opened for the EU settlement scheme.

Caroline Nokes: The application process for the EU Settlement Scheme is straightforward and user-friendly, and it is accessible on any smartphone, tablet or computer using internet browsers.Additionally, as of 26 March, there are 40 locations across the UK where applicants can have their passport scanned and verified, if they choose to do so.This is an entirely voluntary test phase and once the EU Settlement Scheme is fully open by 30 March, use of the EU Exit: Identity Document Check app will be optional. Applicants will be able to post their identity document to the Home Office to be checked and returned quickly. There will also be over 50 locations across the UK where applicants can have their passport scanned and verified to provide further options for applicants.There is a charge for using the service, payable to the local authority, which is set to cover the costs of providing the service.

Migrant Workers: Nurses

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he plans to extend the Tier 2 visa salary exemption for nurses to EEA nationals in the event that the UK leaves the EU.

Caroline Nokes: We have been clear that we want all EU nationals, including those working in the NHS and the care sector, to stay in the UK after we leave the EU.In their report, EEA migration in the UK, the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) recommended maintaining the existing system of salary thresholds.The Government has been clear that we will undertake an extensive programme of engagement with a wide range of stakeholders across the UK, including with the private, public and voluntary sector and local government, as well as industry representatives and individual businesses before taking a final decision on the level of salary thresholds.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when it is planned to open the EU settlement scheme in full in the event that the UK’s departure from the EU is delayed.

Caroline Nokes: The EU Settlement Scheme will launch fully on 30 March regardless of the Article 50 extension agreed between the United Kingdom and the European Council on 22 March.

Immigration Controls: Biometrics

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans his Department has to open new e-passport gates at UK airports.

Caroline Nokes: Border Force are supporting port expansion activities at London City Airport and Manchester, which will include new ePassport gates. These will be funded by the Port Operators as part of their ambition to expand capacity to increase passenger numbers.

Immigration Controls: Biometrics

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which nationalities were able to use e-passport gates in (a) 2016, (b) 2017, (c) 2018 and (d) to date in 2019; and which nationalities are planned to be able to access e-passport gates in 2020.

Caroline Nokes: Eligibility to use ePassport gates is currently limited to UK/EU/EEA and Swiss nationals aged 12 and over using an ePassport, and adult members of the Registered Traveller Service (RTS). From this summer, nationals from Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and the United States of America will also be routinely eligible to use the ePassport gates.In respect of RTS, in January 2016, it was open to eligible nationals of Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, United States of America, Hong Kong (Special Administrative Region only), Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.In November 2016, RTS was expanded to include eligible nationals from Argentina, Belize, Brazil, Brunei, Costa Rica, Chile, El Salvador, Guatema-la, Honduras, Israel, Malaysia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay and Uruguay.A further expansion of RTS took place in October 2017 to include eligible nationals from Andorra, Bahamas, Botswana, Holy See (Vatican City), Ma-cao (Special Administrative Region of China), Maldives, Monaco, Namibia, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Seychelles, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Tonga and Trinidad and Tobago.We keep the border under regular review and will monitor the impact of the recently announced expansion of eligibility before considering any further expansion to additional nationalities.

Home Office: Staff

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people working on the Smarter Working Programme are (a) contingent labour, (b) supplier resource and (c) civil servants.

Victoria Atkins: The Smarter Working Programme closed at the end of July 2018. All staff working on the programme have now been redeployed.

Home Office: Staff

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people working on developing Digital Services at the Border are (a) contingent labour, (b) supplier resource and (c) civil servants.

Caroline Nokes: The exact number of contingent labour, supplier resource and Civil Service staff within this programme varies dependent on the specific expertise required during the lifecycle of the programme. Contingent labour and supplier resource staff are used to provide specific, time-limited expertise, from a pool of specialists offering skills that the Civil Service can draw from when and as needed, rather than employing these specialists on a permanent basis including during periods when their skills are not needed.

Disclosure and Barring Service: Tata Consultancy Services

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the decision for Tata to replace Capita as IT providers for the Decision Barring Service, whether his Department has met with the Information Commissioner's Office to ensure that data is kept securely by Tata.

Victoria Atkins: The contract awarded has provisions and obligations to protect personal data handling and includes a specific schedule relating to security requirements. The Disclosure and Barring Service meets with the Information Commissioner's Officer quarterly to encourage a close working relationship and to share best practice.

Migrant Workers: Yorkshire and the Humber

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of a £30,000 annual salary threshold for  intermediate and high-skilled migrant workers on small towns that rely upon skilled migrant workers in the Yorkshire and the Humber; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Nokes: The Government is committed to developing a future borders and immigration system that will cater for all sectors and regions of the UK.The Migration Advisory Committee recommended retaining existing salary thresholds. However, we have been clear that we want to engage with businesses and employers before determining the level at which salary thresholds should be set. Currently, graduate entry jobs are already subject to a lower salary threshold and we will continue with that approach – and we are considering whether some occupations, such as those recognised on the Shortage Occupation List, should be subject to a lower salary threshold.We have launched engagement over 2019 with a wide range of stakeholders across the UK, and we will be listening to their views on the key proposals in the White Paper before taking final policy decisions on the future system, which will be implemented after 2021.

Migrant Workers: Health Services

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to ensure effective recruitment from EU and non-EU countries to meet demand for (a) NHS and (b) care workers after the UK leaves the EU.

Caroline Nokes: In December 2018, the Government set out its proposals in “the UK’s future Skills-based Immigration System” White Paper. The White Paper proposals include a new route for skilled workers which will be open to anyone at RQF level 3 and above, irrespective of where they are applying from. This route will not be capped allowing all of those who meet our requirements to come to the UK.The White Paper also includes a transitional route for temporary workers which will be open to anyone from qualifying countries, wishing to fill positions at any skill level, for up to 12 months. We do not intend to impose a cap on the number of people wishing to use the route.

Migrant Workers: Nurses

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the salary exemption for nurses under Tier 2 visas will remain in force after the UK leaves the EU; and whether that exemption will be extended to EEA citizens.

Caroline Nokes: We have been clear that we want all EU nationals, including those working in the NHS and the care sector, to stay in the UK after we leave the EU.In their report, EEA migration in the UK, the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) recommended maintaining the existing system of salary thresholds.The Government has been clear that we will undertake an extensive programme of engagement with a wide range of stakeholders across the UK, including with the private, public and voluntary sector and local government, as well as industry representatives and individual businesses before taking a final decision on the level of salary thresholds.

Migrant Workers: Social Workers

Mr Paul Sweeney: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to ensure care workers can continue to come and work in the UK after the UK leaves the EU.

Caroline Nokes: In December 2018, the Government set out its proposals in “the UK’s future Skills-based Immigration System” White Paper. The White Paper proposals include a new route for skilled workers which will be open to anyone at RQF level 3 and above, irrespective of where they are applying from. This route will not be capped allowing all of those who meet our requirements to come to the UK.The White Paper also includes a transitional route for temporary workers which will be open to anyone from qualifying countries, wishing to fill positions at any skill level, for up to 12 months. We do not intend to impose a cap on the number of people wishing to use the route.

Migrant Workers: Social Workers

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on ensuring the effective recruitment of care workers from EU and non-EU countries to meet demand in the UK in the event that the UK leaves the EU.

Caroline Nokes: In December 2018, the Government set out its proposals in “the UK’s future Skills-based Immigration System” White Paper. The White Paper proposals include a new route for skilled workers which will be open to anyone at RQF level 3 and above, irrespective of where they are applying from. This route will not be capped allowing all of those who meet our requirements to come to the UK.The White Paper also includes a transitional route for temporary workers which will be open to anyone from qualifying countries, wishing to fill posi-tions at any skill level, for up to 12 months. We do not intend to impose a cap on the number of people wishing to use the route.

Asylum: Religion

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress his Department has made on the (a) production and (b) rollout of compulsory training on religion or belief claims for all asylum assessors, announced in October 2018.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office have worked closely with the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for International Freedom of Religion or Belief and the Asylum Advocacy Group (AAG) for many years, to help improve their approach to religious based claims and have recently worked with them to develop and produce a specialist training package.The aim of this course is to ensure that where religion or belief is raised in an asylum claim, asylum decision makers appropriately consider all the available evidence in accordance International, European & Domestic law and Home Office Asylum Policy, when interviewing asylum applicants and making decisions on their claims.The course will be rolled out to Asylum Senior Caseworkers and Technical Specialists in April 2019 and all asylum Decision Makers over the course of the subsequent three months.

Visas: Nurses

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department plans to extend the the salary exemption for international nurses under the Tier 2 visa process to citizens of the EEA in the event of the UK leaving the EU.

Caroline Nokes: We have been clear that we want all EU nationals, including those working in the NHS and the care sector, to stay in the UK after we leave the EU.In their report, EEA migration in the UK, the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) recommended maintaining the existing system of salary thresholds.The Government has been clear that we will undertake an extensive programme of engagement with a wide range of stakeholders across the UK, including with the private, public and voluntary sector and local government, as well as industry representatives and individual businesses before taking a final decision on the level of salary thresholds.

Knives: Crime

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria his Department will use to allocate the additional funds for tackling knife crime announced in the Spring Statement to the (a) Metropolitan Police and (b) Metropolitan Police, East Area Command.

Victoria Atkins: On 13 March the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced an additional £100 million of funding for serious violence in 2019/20 to help the police’s immediate response to the rise in serious knife crime, and also to support investment in Violence Reduction Units. It is important that we recognise that greater law enforcement on its own will not reduce serious violence and that we must continue to focus on prevention.The majority of the investment will go towards supporting police forces where violent crime is impacting the most, to take immediate action to suppress the violence we are seeing, to make our streets safer. We are engaging with partners including the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners and we are developing the criteria by which forces will receive this funding.

Fire and Rescue Services

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many full time equivalent firefighters there have been in each year since 2010.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office published the latest statistics on firefighter numbers in England on 18 October 2018. The number of firefighters (full time equivalent) employed by FRSs in England on the 31st March each year are shown in the table below:   201020112012201320142015201620172018Wholetime firefighters29,73529,01828,16627,18526,18025,09823,88722,86722,580On-call firefighters11,89812,14911,51311,26910,98910,82810,4699,8949,760

Visas: Tanzania

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the refusal rate has been for applications for visitor visas from Tanzania in each of the last three (a) years and (b) months.

Caroline Nokes: Applications for visit visas are considered against Appendix V of the Immigration Rules and on a case by case basis. Detailed information on how UK Visas and Immigration makes decisions on visitor cases is published at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/visit-guidanceInformation on total entry clearance visas (the majority of which are visitor visas) broken down by nationality and outcome (grants, refusals, withdrawals, lapsed) is published in the quarterly Immigration Statistics Visas volume 1 table vi_02_q at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-year-ending-december-2018/list-of-tables

Asylum: Community Relations

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to help ensure the (a) integration and (b) assimilation of settled asylum seekers.

Caroline Nokes: This Government is committed to ensuring that refugees can take positive steps towards integration as they rebuild their lives in the UK.Refugees can access mainstream benefits and services, which enable integration. This includes healthcare, education, English language tuition and Job Centre work coaches. The Home Office is working with other Government departments to ensure these services meet the needs of refugees.The Government response to the consultation on the Integrated Communities Strategy (ICS) and action plan was published on GOV.UK on 9th February. We have committed to work with civil society partners and others to improve integration support for all refugees in the UK. The action plan sets out measures we are taking forward to support refugees with English language, employment, mental health, and cultural orientation to life in the UK.

Home Office: Staff

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people working on developing the IT Transformation Programme are (a) contingent labour, (b) supplier resource and (c) civil servants.

Victoria Atkins: The number of people working on the Technology Platforms for Tomorrow Programme is made up of (a) 0 contingent labour (b) 53 supplier resources (c) 17 civil servants

Knives: Crime

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will publish a list of attendees to the Prime Minister's knife crime summit.

Victoria Atkins: The serious youth violence summit takes place in week commencing 1 April and will be attended by the Prime Minister, Secretaries of State and Ministers from a number of government departments, and representatives from across the public, private and voluntary sectors, academia, victims and young people. A list of those who attend will be made available after the summit.

Police: Schools

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department holds data on the change in the number of schools-based police officers since 2010.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office does not hold data on the number of schools-based officers.

Home Office: Staff

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 12 March 2019 to Question 227161 on Home Office: Staff, how many staff have been employed by his Department in each month since 31 January 2019.

Victoria Atkins: Figures for February 2019 are provided in the Table-1 below: MonthPaid Civil ServantsHeadcountFull Time EquivalentFeb-1932,83630,467.63Data Source: Adelphi - Home Office Human Resources Record System.Period Covered: Figures are as at 28th February 2019.Organisational Coverage: Figures include Home Office.Employee Coverage: Data is based on headcount and full time equivalent of all paid civil servants who were current on the last day of the reference month.Home Office publish monthly workforce management information on gov.uk links provided below. The data for February 2019 will be published on 5th April 2019.2010 to 2017: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/structure-and-salaries-series2018: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/workforce-management-information-20182018:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/workforce-management-information-2018

Serious Violence Taskforce

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether representatives from the (a) Department of Health and (b) Department of Education have been to each meeting of the serious violence taskforce.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will publish the (a) agendas and (b) attendees of each meeting of the serious violence taskforce from its inception to date.

Victoria Atkins: The Serious Violence Taskforce, chaired by the Home Secretary, brings together partners from within government and across sectors to drive forward implementation of the Serious Violence Strategy. These partners include representatives from the Department for Education and representatives from the Health sectors who have been present at each of the Taskforce meetings. The Minister of State for Mental Health, Inequalities and Suicide Prevention attended the last meeting of the Serious Violence Taskforce and is now a permanent member.Due to the nature of the discussions of the Serious Violence Taskforce, the minutes and actions of the meeting are not available publicly so to ensure an open discussion. The Taskforce is a valuable forum and it has led to the Home Secretary’s recent announcements on a new £200m Youth Endowment Fund, a consultation on the proposed new legal duty to support the public health approach to tackling violence, an independent review of drug misuse, and informed the recent announcement of £100m to support a police surge and investment in Violence Reduction Units.

Knives: Crime

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, from which programmes will the £20 million re-prioritised from the Home Office towards the £100 million knife crime contingency fund be drawn.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Office’s spending plans for 2019-20 will be presented to the House of Commons as part of the 2019 to 2020 Main Supply Estimates by HM Treasury. In forming these spending plans, Ministers have prioritised across the department according to the department’s statutory obligations and the Government’s priorities.

Crime: Retail Trade

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans he has to tackle (a) retail crime and (b) violence against shopworkers; and if he will make a statement.

Victoria Atkins: All forms of retail crime are unacceptable, and everyone has the right to feel safe at work.I chair the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG) which brings together partners including the police, trade bodies – including the Association of Convenience Stores - and retailers and is overseeing a range of work to tackle retail crime. This includes the collation and dissemination of good practice and developing guidance on the use of Impact Statements for Business, which give victims of business crime the opportunity to set out the impact the crime has had on the business, including, for example, financial loss. The NRCSG also continues to work with retailers to im-prove the management and response to shop theft using a partnership ap-proach according to local circumstances.On 21 January I announced that we will launch a call for evidence on violence and abuse towards shop workers to strengthen our understanding of this issue, including how existing legislation is being applied.In addition, the Sentencing Council is reviewing its guidelines on assault and a consultation on a revised guideline is anticipated to commence this Summer.

Offensive Weapons Bill: Northern Ireland

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when a legislative consent motion regarding clauses 1 to 4 of the Offensive Weapons Bill was (a) issued and (b) to whom as the relevant decision making authorities in Northern Ireland.

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether clauses 1-4 of the Offences Weapons Bill will apply to Northern Ireland when the bill receives royal assent.

Victoria Atkins: The United Kingdom Government has been liaising closely with Northern Ireland departments in respect of devolved matters where provisions in the Offensive Weapons Bill may extend to Northern Ireland. Clauses 1-4 of the Bill, relating to the sale and delivery of corrosive products to persons under 18 and the delivery of corrosive products to residential premises, are covered by separate commencement provisions in the Bill in respect of Northern Ireland as these are devolved matters.Clauses 1-4 of the Bill will therefore be commenced by the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland and associated regulations relating to these Clauses will not be commenced without Northern Ireland assembly approval.

Shoplifting: Newcastle Upon Tyne

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to support retailers in Newcastle from shop theft.

Victoria Atkins: I chair the National Retail Crime Steering Group (NRCSG) which brings together partners including the police, trade bodies and retailers and is overseeing a range of work to tackle retail crime.This includes the collation and dissemination of good practice and developing guidance on the use of Impact Statements for Business, which give victims of business crime the opportunity to set out the impact the crime has had on the business, including, for example, financial loss. The NRCSG also continues to work with retailers to improve the management and response to shop theft using a partnership approach.

Scotland Office

Poverty: Children

Hugh Gaffney: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on reducing child poverty levels in Scotland.

David Mundell: I have regular discussions with the Scottish Government on a range of issues, including those which span both devolved and reserved matters; the Scottish Government has powers to tackle poverty through the devolution of skills, education, health and employment programmes.

Cabinet Office

Cabinet Office: Staff

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people working on developing the Office for National Statistics Census Transformation Programme are (a) contingent labour, (b) supplier resource and (c) civil servants.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response
(PDF Document, 170.53 KB)

Allergies: Death

Jo Swinson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many (a) men and (b) women have died from anaphylaxis in each of the last ten years.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response
(PDF Document, 77.54 KB)

Prime Minister: Facebook

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the cost to the public purse was of each of the four Facebook adverts promoting the Prime Minister's speech to the nation on 20 March 2019; and for what reason the decision was taken to promote that speech.

Chloe Smith: This information is intended for publication at a future date. Communicating government policy effectively to the public is a core function of the Civil Service.

Government Departments: Advertising

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much the Government has spent on (a) newspaper and magazine and (b) radio adverts advertising the potential effects of the UK leaving the EU; what assessment he has made of the value for money of such advertising; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Lidington: The Cabinet Office is leading and coordinating the cross-departmental Prepare for EU Exit public information campaign to help fulfil the Government’s duty to inform citizens and businesses about how leaving the EU might affect them, and to advise them on the steps they may need to take to prepare. To date we have used a range of paid-for and no-cost channels to direct citizens and businesses to a dedicated area on GOV.UK at Gov.uk/euexit. The Cabinet Office has undertaken to publish information relating to ongoing expenditure on the public information campaign as part of the department’s regular data transparency releases. For maximum economies of scale, media for all Government campaigns is bought centrally through a new Crown Commercial Service framework. The framework maximises value for UK taxpayers through robust pricing guarantees that are defined for the life of the contract and rates that are benchmarked against other public and private sector organisations.

Northern Ireland Office

Offensive Weapons Bill: Northern Ireland

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether the decision on the legislative consent motions required for clauses 1 to 4 of the Offensive Weapons Bill will be made solely by the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland Office.

Karen Bradley: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 28 March 2019.The correct answer should have been:

In Northern Ireland, corrosive substances are devolved and are the responsibility of the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland. Clauses 1 to 4 of the Offensive Weapons Bill which the hon Member has referred to, relate to proportionate restrictions on the sale and delivery of certain acids and other dangerous corrosive chemicals, and are part of a range of measures to provide better protection to people in local communities across the UK. I am continuing to work hard with the parties in Northern Ireland to restore devolved government so that the devolved administration can ensure the appropriate legislative consent is provided. and to enhance public safety. Consideration has been given by Northern Ireland departments and UK Government Ministers to extending these measures in the absence of an Assembly or a Legislative Consent Motion, which can only be granted during the passage of a Bill. The Bill contains separate commencement measures for provisions extending to Northern Ireland which relate to devolved matters. These are to be commenced by the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland and associated regulations will not be commenced without Northern Ireland Assembly approval.

Karen Bradley: In Northern Ireland, corrosive substances are devolved and are the responsibility of the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland. Clauses 1 to 4 of the Offensive Weapons Bill which the hon Member has referred to, relate to proportionate restrictions on the sale and delivery of certain acids and other dangerous corrosive chemicals, and are part of a range of measures to provide better protection to people in local communities across the UK. I am continuing to work hard with the parties in Northern Ireland to restore devolved government so that the devolved administration can ensure the appropriate legislative consent is provided. and to enhance public safety. Consideration has been given by Northern Ireland departments and UK Government Ministers to extending these measures in the absence of an Assembly or a Legislative Consent Motion, which can only be granted during the passage of a Bill. The Bill contains separate commencement measures for provisions extending to Northern Ireland which relate to devolved matters. These are to be commenced by the Department of Justice in Northern Ireland and associated regulations will not be commenced without Northern Ireland Assembly approval.

Alcoholic Drinks: Northern Ireland

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether in the absence of the Northern Ireland Assembly she plans to bring forward legislative proposals on amending the sale and supply of alcoholic drinks at special events in Northern Ireland.

John Penrose: As your question implies, liquor licensing is a devolved matter. The Department for Communities, the Northern Ireland Department with responsibility for this issue, recently launched a public consultation on the sale and supply of alcoholic drinks at special events. The consultation runs until 3 May and the Department for Communities will consider the way forward following analysis of responses.

Treasury

Revenue and Customs: South of England

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the cumulative years of experience lost through staff redundancy by HMRC in south coast offices in 2018.

Mel Stride: HMRC is reshaping to become a modern, flexible and cost-effective organisation, occupying fewer offices, and able to maximise revenue yield through increased compliance, greater capacity for digital business and by providing better, more personal services for its customers. Around 6,000 staff leave the department each year through resignations, retirements, and for other reasons. It is not possible to reliably calculate the exact number of years of experience which this equates to in any given year, as HMRC does not hold all the data necessary to adjust for those who are part-time, those who had career breaks, or those who worked other reduced working patterns.

UK Trade with EU

Tom Brake: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many Economic Operator Registration and Identification numbers have been issued by HMRC to (a) VAT-registered and (b) non-VAT-registered UK exporters to EU countries in preparation for the UK leaving the EU.

Mel Stride: UK traders that only trade with the EU will need an EORI number in the event the UK leaves the EU without a deal. HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) estimated that in 2017 there were 144,000 VAT-registered traders that only traded with the EU. A separate estimate indicates there are around 100,000 non VAT-registered traders that trade only with the EU. Latest HMRC validated data show that in the three months to 15 March, there were more than 59,000 registrations for an EORI number. The Government recently announced temporary simplified procedures to make importing and exporting easier. To register for these simplifications, traders will need a UK EORI number. Therefore, completing the application is a good first step for traders, and ensures that our records are correct. Registering for an EORI number is free and very quick – it currently takes around 10 minutes.

Customs

Mr David Davis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he has taken to promote the grants available to small businesses in relation to new customs requirements after the UK leaves the EU.

Mel Stride: HMRC’s grant scheme to support customs intermediaries and traders has been promoted through numerous channels including; GOV.UK messaging and guidance, trade and regional media, HMRC social media, email communications to stakeholders, regular articles in established bulletins for agents and employers since December 2018, and inclusion within HMRC’s wider EU Exit communications such as the Partnership Pack.Media activity has included an initial media statement in September 2018, followed by a press release in December 2018 and inclusion in a wider regional press release on preparing for EU Exit in February 2019.We are also engaging with key industry stakeholders, including associations and representative bodies, through groups such as the Joint Customs Consultative Committee (JCCC) and the Customs Capacity Advisory Group (CCAG). In particular we have worked closely with the CCAG, which includes stakeholders such as the British Chamber of Commerce, British International Freight Association and Federation of Small Businesses, to help cascade the message to businesses.

Air Passenger Duty: Northern Ireland

David Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much money was accrued to the public purse from Air Passenger Duty in Northern Ireland in each of the last three years.

Robert Jenrick: As Air Passenger Duty (APD) is paid by airlines, information on revenues by region is not available. However, HMRC publishes an estimate of disaggregated tax receipts, including the share of APD relating to Northern Ireland:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/disaggregation-of-hmrc-tax-receipts

Interest Rates

David Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions has he had with the Governor of the Bank of England on the level of interest rates.

John Glen: The independent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has operational independence to set the level of interest rates in order to achieve their objectives as set out in the remit.The Chancellor of the Exchequer has regular discussions with the Governor of the Bank of England on a range of issues related to the UK economy.

Economic Growth: Northern Ireland

David Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to support economic growth in Northern Ireland in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Elizabeth Truss: Securing a deal with the EU remains the Government’s top priority. However, a responsible Government must plan for every eventuality. The Northern Ireland Executive has received around £55 million in EU Exit preparation funding through the Barnett Formula. To support the economic growth in Northern Ireland, we have also committed £350 million for a Belfast City Region Deal, £2 million to support regeneration of Belfast City Centre and accelerated the rollout of full fibre broadband. The early stage negotiations for a Derry/Londonderry and Strabane City Region Deal are progressing well. This builds on our work at Budget, when we also increased Northern Ireland Executive’s budget by £320 million.

Banks: Closures

David Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions has he had with representatives from banks on branch closures.

John Glen: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors, including banks, as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel.

Taxation: Bermuda

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2019 to Question 235377, on Taxation: Bermuda, whether his Department has made representations to the EU (a) member states and (b) Commission to request that Bermuda is not be added to the EU’s list of non-cooperative institutions.

Mel Stride: The UK has not made representations to exclude from the list any jurisdiction that has failed to meet the criteria for identifying non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes agreed by EU Member States, including Bermuda. The UK has sought to ensure the process is fair and proportionate towards assessed jurisdictions, including by ensuring jurisdictions had sufficient opportunity and assistance to comply. As stated in my previous answer of 26 March 2019, Bermuda is a fiscally sovereign jurisdiction, and has been liaising directly with the EU institutions on this issue.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

National Trust: Finance

Dr Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will provide a costed list of central government grants made to the National Trust in each year since 2010.

Michael Ellis: The National Trust is an independent charity and therefore does not receive regular grant-in-aid from central Government. Instead, it may receive adhoc payments for specific projects to benefit its estate and/or the wider historic environment. Some of Government’s arm’s length bodies also provide grants to the National Trust for specific projects, such as over £35million in grants given to the National Trust by National Lottery Heritage Fund since 2010.

4G

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if the Government will make it its policy to extend mobile coverage with 4G technology to 95 per cent of the UK by the end of 2022.

Margot James: The Government wants the UK to have high-quality mobile connectivity where people live, work and travel. Mobile coverage has significantly improved over recent years, with 91% of the UK landmass having 4G coverage by at least one operator, up from 78% in 2017. Despite this progress, there remain areas where mobile connectivity must be improved. The Government has committed to extend geographic 4G coverage to 95% of the UK by 2022 and so address these ‘not spots’. The Government welcomes the proposals set out in Ofcom’s consultation on awarding the 700 MHz and 3.6-3.8GHz spectrum bands to improve coverage.

4G

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government's policy to extend geographic mobile coverage to 95 per cent of the UK by the end of 2022 relates to 4G technology.

Margot James: The Government wants the UK to have high-quality mobile connectivity where people live, work and travel. Mobile coverage has significantly improved over recent years, with 91% of the UK landmass having 4G coverage by at least one operator, up from 78% in 2017. Despite this progress, there remain areas where mobile connectivity must be improved. The Government has committed to extend geographic 4G coverage to 95% of the UK by 2022 and so address these ‘not spots’. The Government welcomes the proposals set out in Ofcom’s consultation on awarding the 700 MHz and 3.6-3.8GHz spectrum bands to improve coverage.

Nuisance Calls

Alex Chalk: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government has made an assessment of the effect on levels of nuisance calls of companies requiring consumers to provide their phone numbers when purchasing products or signing up for services.

Margot James: Companies who process personal data and use it to make marketing communications are regulated by the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR). Both of these are administered and enforced by the Information Commissioner (ICO). If a company collects phone numbers from customers, it must be clear and transparent about how personal data will be handled, and ensure that the data is processed in a way which individuals would expect. Personal data must not be shared with third parties without an appropriate legal basis. Organisations that fail to comply may be subject to enforcement action by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO has the power to impose a monetary penalty on those who break the law. The Government has not made an official assessment of the effect on levels of nuisance calls of companies requiring consumers to provide their phone numbers when purchasing products or signing up for services.

Voluntary Work: Young People

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2019 to Question 235376 on Voluntary Work: Young People, what the sources are of past non-public income generated to fund NCS and the forecasted £3 million of income for the upcoming financial year.

Mims Davies: Historically, the main source of non-public income generated for NCS has been the £50 sign-up fee. A small amount of income has occasionally come from other sources, such as corporate sponsorships. The forecasted circa £3 million income for the upcoming financial year will be generated from sign-up fees.

Cybercrime: Business

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department has taken to help protect businesses from cyber attack after the cyber attack on Metro bank in February 2019.

Margot James: Protecting UK businesses from cyber attacks is a key priority within the Government’s National Cyber Security Strategy 2016-2021. The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) works with a wide range of partners to provide advice and support to businesses and organisations across the UK, enabling them to put measures in place to protect against cyber attacks. Up to date guidance - such as the Small Business Guide for SMEs - is freely available on NCSC’s website and is underpinned by NCSC’s insights into cyber threats. The NCSC has also published its Board Toolkit to help company boards better understand cyber security. Government continues to engage with businesses of all types and through multiple channels to raise awareness of cyber security best practice. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has published the FTSE350 Cyber Governance Health Check for the UK’s leading firms; Ministers have recently undertaken a series of industry roundtables to drive action on cyber security, and DCMS has worked with Home Office to deliver the Cyber Aware campaign for businesses.

House of Commons Commission

City Remembrancers Office

Jon Trickett: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, what information he holds on the number of times the City Remembrancer has met with hon. Members in each year since 2010.

Tom Brake: The House of Commons Commission does not hold records on such meetings, other than meetings of Committees on Private Bills attended by the Remembrancer.The City Remembrancer has been involved in the promotion of two private bills since 2010 on behalf of the City of London: City of London (Various Powers) Bill in 2013 and the City of London Corporation (Open Spaces) Bill in 2017.　The City of London (Various Powers) Bill was referred to an unopposed bill committee which met on 16 July 2013. The Committee members were Mr Lindsay Hoyle, Mr Adrian Bailey, Sir Peter Bottomley, Teresa Pearce and Craig Whittaker. The proceedings of the committee hearings may be viewed here:https://services.parliament.uk/Bills/2010-12/cityoflondonvariouspowershl/committees/houseofcommonsunopposedbillcommitteeonthecityoflondonvariouspowersbillhl201314.html The City of London Corporation (Open Spaces) Bill opposed bill committee comprised Melanie Onn, Kevin Hollinrake, Julian Knight and Marie Rimmer and met on 15 and 22 November 2017. The proceedings of the committee may be viewed here:https://services.parliament.uk/Bills/2017-19/cityoflondoncorporationopenspaces/committees/houseofcommonsopposedbillcommitteeonthecityoflondoncorporationopenspacesbill201617.html

City Remembrancers Office

Jon Trickett: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, what information he holds on how many times the City Remembrancer has been consulted on Bills in each year since 2010.

Tom Brake: The House of Commons Commission does not hold such records. The House of Commons does not initiate Bills, and as such does not consult others on Bills. Procedural and other advice about the passage of Bills may be sought from officials of the House of Commons by the Remembrancer in the same way as by other Roll A Parliamentary Agents.

City Remembrancers Office

Jon Trickett: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, what information he holds on which Bills the City Remembrancer has been consulted on in each year since 2010.

Tom Brake: Discussions have taken place between officials in the House of Commons Service and the Remembrancer about the following Bills on the same basis that discussions take place as a matter of course between those officials and the promoters of Private Bills and their Parliamentary Agent: The City of London (Various Powers) Bill and the City of London Corporation (Open Spaces) Bill. The City of London (Various Powers) Bill proceedings of the committee hearings may be viewed here:https://services.parliament.uk/Bills/2010-12/cityoflondonvariouspowershl/committees/houseofcommonsunopposedbillcommitteeonthecityoflondonvariouspowersbillhl201314.html The City of London Corporation (Open Spaces) Bill proceedings may be viewed here:https://services.parliament.uk/Bills/2017-19/cityoflondoncorporationopenspaces/committees/houseofcommonsopposedbillcommitteeonthecityoflondoncorporationopenspacesbill201617.html